In the days leading up to what the Trump administration called the “largest deportation in American history,” involving the transfer of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), President Nayib Bukele issued a critical demand: the return of nine imprisoned MS-13 leaders held in US custody.

As reported by The Washington Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured Bukele on March 13 that the request could be met, even though several of the gang leaders were protected US informants. Rubio explained that Attorney General Pam Bondi would need to revoke those protections before the transfers could move forward.

Rubio’s pledge, previously unreported in detail, underscores the Trump administration’s willingness to sideline longstanding law enforcement arrangements to satisfy Bukele’s conditions. In exchange, the US secured access to CECOT, a facility widely criticized for alleged human rights violations but central to Trump’s early deportation strategy.

Impact on US law enforcement

Current and former Justice Department officials warned that Rubio’s promise could undermine years of law enforcement work to secure the cooperation of high-level MS-13 members. Douglas Farah, a US contractor who helped investigate MS-13, described the deal as “a deep betrayal of US law enforcement, whose agents risked their lives to apprehend the gang members.”

Abandoning informant agreements, they said, could damage the credibility of US law enforcement and hinder future efforts to recruit cooperators. At least three of the requested gang leaders had already provided information implicating Bukele’s government in alleged dealings with MS-13.

César López Larios, charged with directing MS-13 activities in the US, was deported to El Salvador two days after Rubio’s call. The others remain in US custody, uncertain whether they too will be handed over to the government they were cooperating against.

State Department and El Salvador reactions

The State Department defended Rubio’s diplomacy, highlighting that hundreds of members of the Tren de Aragua gang were deported to El Salvador before later being transferred to Venezuela.

“Hardened TdA gang members are back in Venezuela … MS-13 gang members are being prosecuted in the U.S. and El Salvador. And Americans are safer as a result,” said spokesman Tommy Pigott.

Justice Department spokesperson Gates McGavick also praised the administration’s coordination on MS-13 enforcement.

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Meanwhile, Bukele’s lobbyist Damian Merlo argued that the gang leaders were Salvadoran nationals who should serve time in their home country’s specialized detention center rather than in US facilities.

Rubio’s role and political context

Rubio’s central role in negotiating the deal reflects his evolution from a Trump critic to a key executor of the president’s foreign policy agenda. During the March negotiations, Rubio was traveling in Saudi Arabia and Canada, while taking multiple calls from Trump, who was concerned that delayed deportations could prompt federal court interventions.

The arrangement served the political goals of both leaders: Trump sought a partner willing to accept deportees without regard to nationality, while Bukele aimed to bolster his image as a tough-on-crime leader.

Known as the “world’s coolest dictator,” Bukele enjoys strong domestic support for reducing homicides but faces criticism for civil liberties restrictions and a prison system plagued by abuse allegations.

During a White House meeting in April, Trump praised Bukele’s leadership and commitment to reducing crime, while Bukele responded that the US faced “a crime problem, a terrorism problem” requiring collaboration.

Aftermath of the deportations

Bukele has largely fulfilled his side of the deal, housing roughly 250 deportees at CECOT before their eventual transfer to Venezuela. The Trump administration, however, has deported only one of the nine requested gang leaders: López Larios. Prosecutors dismissed his US case citing “geopolitical and national security concerns,” and he was sent to El Salvador in mid-March.

The remaining eight gang leaders remain in US custody, with unclear plans for future deportations. One, Vladimir Arévalo Chávez, known as “Vampiro", has faced delays due to judicial scrutiny in New York. Arévalo Chávez warned in a June letter that deportation would put him in “very danger” of torture or worse.

Investigation background

The capture of the nine gang leaders was part of a major Justice Department initiative through Joint Task Force Vulcan, targeting both low-level operatives and senior MS-13 leaders operating from El Salvador. Indictments in 2021 and 2022 detailed the gang’s extensive network, including alleged collusion with Bukele’s government.

Unnamed Salvadoran officials allegedly met repeatedly with gang leaders, offering financial incentives and less restrictive prison conditions in exchange for reducing visible murders and blocking extraditions to the US.

Bukele has denied any negotiations with gang members. However, following initial indictments, the Salvadoran government released at least four charged leaders. One, Elmer Canales Rivera, was later apprehended in Mexico and provided investigators with critical evidence linking Bukele officials to gang deals.

Authorities have also investigated possible misuse of US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds that may have benefited MS-13 leaders.

Experts warned that returning these informants to El Salvador, as Rubio promised, could jeopardize the entire case against both gang leaders and implicated officials.

Ongoing legal and political concerns

On March 11, the DOJ requested dismissal of López Larios’s case, initially filed under seal with no public acknowledgment of the agreement. Within four days, US District Judge Joan Azrack approved his deportation. Videos later showed López Larios in CECOT, shorn of his beard and placed under protective custody.

In early April, DOJ prosecutors also sought dismissal of Arévalo Chávez’s charges, but Judge Azrack questioned key aspects of the US arrangement and declined to immediately approve the request.

The remaining gang leaders in US custody now face uncertain fates. Former agents have expressed frustration over the administration’s actions, warning that years of investigative work could be undone. Current and former officials also noted that resources have shifted away from probing Bukele’s alleged collusion with MS-13, due in part to the administration’s increasingly close ties with El Salvador.