Trump admin reups $5M reward for capture of MS-13 kingpin: ‘Turn him in. End this threat’

The Trump administration reupped a $5 million reward Monday for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of  Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, the alleged leader of MS-13 in Honduras. 

Archaga Carías, who also goes by “Porky,” directs several of the notoriously violent gang’s criminal activities, including drug trafficking, money laundering, murder and kidnappings, according to the State Department. 

The US government’s $5 million bounty for Archaga Carías was first offered in 2023 under the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program but is being highlighted once again as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to combat the gang, which earlier this year President Trump designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

“This terrorist leader can no longer be allowed to live free as MS-13’s evil devastates communities in America and throughout the western hemisphere,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “If you can contribute information leading to his arrest – come forward now.”

Targeting the gang and its leadership is one of the Trump administration’s top priorities, and FBI Director Kash Patel pledged Monday that Archaga Carías will eventually be captured. 

“Dismantling and ultimately eliminating MS-13 continues to be one of the FBI’s highest priorities, and we’re not stopping until that mission is complete,” Patel said in a statement.. “Alongside our dedicated law enforcement partners, the FBI will find Archaga Carías — a terrorist whose reign of terror at the helm of MS-13 is coming to an end.”

The at-large Honduran gang leader – already one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives – is also directly responsible for the importation of “large amounts” of cocaine into the US, the State Department said. 

Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Derek Maltz warned that anyone harboring Archaga Carías will also get taken down by the Trump administration.  

“With MS-13 now officially designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the rules have changed — and so has the mission,”  Maltz said in a statement. “Archaga Carías isn’t just a fugitive — he’s a foreign terrorist waging war on innocent Americans through murder, trafficking, and terror.”

“Let me be clear: under this Administration, we will dismantle MS-13 piece by piece — and anyone protecting him will fall with him. A $5 million reward is on the table. Turn him in. End this threat.”

Archaga Carías, 43, was previously hit with federal racketeering, narcotics trafficking and firearms charges in a 2021 superseding indictment out of the Southern District of New York. 

Only one of the five MS-13 leaders, all Honduran nationals, charged in the New York indictment, is in US custody. 

“MS-13 remains one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world, and the recent designation of MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization underscores this reality,” Acting US Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. “This Office, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate, prosecute and track down MS-13’s leadership, no matter where in the world they may be hiding.”

Federal prosecutors allege that Archaga Carías and associates, acting on his orders, “provided protection to drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) engaged in transporting multi-ton loads of cocaine through Honduras and destined for the United States.” 

 Archaga Carías contracted out members of MS-13 as “Sicarios,” or hit men, to DTOs for payment, according to the DOJ, and MS-13 gangsters “committed numerous murders for hire for DTOs trafficking cocaine through Honduras to the United States.”

“Archaga Carías and MS-13 also supplied DTOs with firearms, including machineguns, that were received from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere,” according to the Justice Department. “Archaga Carías also ordered multiple murders of rival gang members and drug trafficking competitors in Honduras, as well as other members of MS-13 whom Archaga Carías believed had been disloyal to the gang.”

If convicted, Archaga Carías faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum penalty of 40 years in prison. 

The Justice Department asks the public to send information about Archaga Carías’ whereabouts to [email protected], or via WhatsApp at +1-832-267-1688.