FBI Director Kash Patel used a Senate Judiciary Committee appearance on September 15, 2026, to announce the FBI had captured all 10 fugitives on its Most Wanted list under President Donald Trump’s second term.
The announcement came as a correction to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who had praised the FBI during his opening remarks for capturing nine of the top 10 most wanted fugitives.
Patel interrupted his own opening remarks to clarify that the number had just risen to a full sweep after a capture the prior weekend.
“Mr. Chairman, I’m proud to announce today, and I hate to correct you, we haven’t captured nine of the top 10 most [wanted] individuals on our list. We’ve captured 10,” Patel said.
The tenth fugitive was apprehended in Venezuela, completing a clean sweep that Patel described as unprecedented in the bureau’s history.
“Just this past weekend, we captured a thug down in Venezuela who was on our most wanted list and on the run for years. He has been captured, apprehended and is on his way back to the United States of America. That’s 10 of 10. Nobody in the FBI history has done that,” Patel said.
While Patel did not name the individual during the hearing, the FBI separately identified the tenth capture as Anibal Alexander Canelon Aguirre, described as the FBI’s first ever “cyber fugitive.”
According to the FBI, Aguirre led “a large international conspiracy to steal millions of dollars from financial institutions in support of the Tren de Aragua, through an ATM jackpotting scheme since at least 2024.”
Patel also drew a comparison to the prior administration, stating the FBI had captured more than two and a half times the number of top 10 most wanted fugitives than its predecessor achieved.
Beyond the fugitive sweep, Patel told the committee that the FBI had also captured six of the top 10 most wanted fraudsters on a list his bureau created during the current administration.
Patel pointed to significant homicide reductions across several American cities as further evidence of the Trump administration’s law enforcement progress.
“On top of that, we’ve captured six of the most wanted fraudsters around the world, taking the murder rate down 20 points is no easy effort. It requires a team lift, state, local and international partners. This includes results in cities like Baltimore, which reached its lowest mid-year homicide numbers in recorded history,” he said.
Patel also highlighted Memphis and Washington, D.C., as cities showing dramatic improvements under the administration’s public safety push.
“This year in Memphis, we accomplished a 50% reduction in homicide for a city that had the highest per capita homicide rate in the country, thanks to the president’s task force. And right here in Washington, D.C., we are on track to have the lowest homicide numbers since 1990,” Patel added.
