According to a Washington Post investigation, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with the Bukele administration to deport nine MS-13 gang leaders.

The gang members were in U.S. custody as a result of a major investigative process conducted by the Joint Task Force Vulcan.

The team, composed of investigators and prosecutors, was formed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) at the end of Trump’s first presidential term. Its primary objective was to investigate members of MS-13.

In 2021, the DOJ issued its first high-profile indictment, charging more than a dozen MS-13 leaders (many of them imprisoned) with violence, drug, and weapons trafficking in Central America, Mexico, and the United States.

A year later, he filed a second formal accusation that exposed compelling findings about MS-13’s ties to the Bukele government.

Although the DOJ did not directly charge Bukele or his officials, it did allege that unidentified members of his administration had secretly met «numerous times» with imprisoned MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.

According to the Washington Post, the agreement negotiated by Rubio in March 2025 helped both Trump and Bukele solve crucial problems for their respective political rises.

Trump, who has dedicated himself to deporting undocumented immigrants fromEE.UU., needed a foreign partner who would accept deportees regardless of their nationality or legal circumstances.

Meanwhile, Bukele, who has created an image as a leader against organized crime, needed the support of the US judicial system to counter threats to his reputation.

However, for some DOJ officials, Rubio’s promise to end the informant agreement jeopardizes years of work by U.S. law enforcement.