US drops case against alleged MS-13 gang leader to fast-track removal

The Trump administration moved Wednesday to drop its case against a man who it described two weeks earlier as a leader of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 living illegally in the United States, court records showed.

In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi described 24-year-old Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos as a "terrorist" and said he would "now face the removal process."

Santos was charged in late March with being an undocumented alien in possession of a firearm, and was described at the time by US President Donald Trump as a "major leader of MS-13" -- a Latin America-based gang designated a foreign terrorist organization by Washington.

On Wednesday, prosecutors asked a federal court to dismiss the gun charges complaint against Santos in a single-page filing, without providing further details.

Earlier, Bondi told a televised news conference the suspect was from El Salvador and was in the United States illegally, adding he "will not be living in our country much longer."

She described him as one of the top three MS-13 leaders in the United States, saying that he was responsible for East Coast operations and was arrested in Virginia.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reported that US authorities dropped the case in order to fast-track Santos's removal from the United States.

Bondi's statement appeared to confirm that conclusion.

Trump has sought to target predominantly Hispanic criminal groups operating in the United States since he returned to the White House in January, alongside a broader clampdown on illegal immigration.

His heavy-handed approach has, however, drawn backlash from Democrats and rights groups.

Last week, officials admitted that an "administrative error" had seen a man mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison with hundreds of other alleged gang members in mid-March.

A separate reported case of a gay barber being deported has attracted US media attention, and attorneys for several deportees say their clients were targeted only because of their tattoos.