EFE.- FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday the capture in Venezuela of the last of the agency’s 10 most wanted fugitives, saying the FBI has now apprehended everyone on that list.
“This weekend, we captured in Venezuela a criminal who was on our most wanted list and had been on the run for years,” Patel said during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The FBI director did not reveal the detainee’s identity but said he was already on his way to the United States.
Fox News, citing confirmation from the FBI, identified the detainee as Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre, a Venezuelan whom the agency added to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in March and considers its first “cyber fugitive.”
The FBI accuses Canelón Aguirre of leading an international conspiracy that allegedly deployed groups across the United States to steal millions of dollars from financial institutions through attacks on ATMs.
According to the FBI, Canelón Aguirre faces charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank theft and intentional damage to computer systems, as well as money laundering and providing material support to terrorists.
The agency maintains that proceeds from so-called “ATM jackpotting” — a technique that uses malware to force ATMs to dispense cash — ultimately flowed into a money-laundering network linked to Tren de Aragua.
Patel announced the capture after committee chairman, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, initially mentioned nine arrests. The FBI director corrected him, saying the number had now reached 10.
