Francisco Javier 'El Viejo' Román-Bardales, head of the MS-13, charged with narcoterrorism

A New York court charged Salvadoran Francisco Javier Román-Bardales, leader of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), with racketeering and narcoterrorism. If convicted, he could face life in prison or even the death penalty.

"El Veterano de Tribus," as he is known, was on the FBI's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives. He was arrested Monday after three years on the run by Mexican authorities in Veracruz and extradited the next day to the United States, where he appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Central Islip, N.Y.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is accusing the 47-year-old Salvadoran of being part of the command structure of the MS-13 gang, composed of three organizations: Ranfla Nacional, Ranfla en Los Penales and Ranfla en las Calles. Román-Bardales founded the latter, according to the DOJ, and controlled one of MS-13's areas of operation in El Salvador.

Those criminal activities spread from Los Angeles, the gang's birthplace in the 1980s, to countries across the Americas. In El Salvador, authorities accuse the gang of "a litany of violent terrorist activities" to extort money from the local government and terrorize the civilian population. Mexican authorities claim the gang allied with local drug cartels and collaborated in the trafficking of arms, drugs and people.

While within U.S. borders, MS-13 was "engaged in extreme violence, including countless murders, attempted murders, assaults, and related offenses."

Román-Bardales was at the forefront of several of those operations, according to the DOJ. He now faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narcoterrorism conspiracy and alien smuggling conspiracy.

Last month, the Donald Trump administration included Mara Salvatrucha on the list of global terrorist organizations. Eleven extradition requests from the Office of the Attorney General remain pending, all involving members of the gang's leadership who it believes were or are in the custody of Salvadoran authorities.