SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Fugitive Task Force, acting on information provided by the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Offenders Task Force out of the district of Puerto Rico, arrested Justo Bermudez Stevens in the Bronx on Thursday.

Bermudez Stevens was on the Puerto Rico Top Ten Most Wanted list since a federal grand jury returned an indictment in September on 66 individuals allegedly involved in a violent drug trafficking gang operating in Ponce.

It’s alleged that Bermudez Stevens is one of the principal leaders of a major drug trafficking organization that controlled the wholesale drug distribution in the southern part of the island. Bermudez Stevens is also wanted by the State authorities for multiple murder charges and is suspected of participating in several other murders during the drug trafficking war to control the illicit operations.

“Thanks to the collaborations between district offices and the quick response by the U.S. Marshals led New York/ New Jersey Fugitive Task Force, this violent fugitive was captured without incident. It is only a matter of time before we catch them, and as the federal government’s primary agency for fugitive investigations, we will continue to hunt other fugitives and bring them to justice as well,” said Orlando Rivera, U.S. Marshal for the district of Puerto Rico.