FBI Director Kash Patel rejected criticism of the agency’s Most Wanted fugitive figures, portraying the scrutiny as an effort to discredit frontline agents. He pointed instead to the arrest totals and seizures recorded during the recently completed “Operation Summer Heat 2.0” as evidence of a more aggressive, field-focused FBI.
Patel dismissed reports alleging that the FBI manipulated its Most Wanted captures, saying such claims sought to “denigrate the work of the bureau.” He maintained that career officials—not political leaders—run the process for selecting and managing the lists.
In September, Patel announced that the FBI had captured all 10 fugitives on its Most Wanted list during President Donald Trump’s second term. On Wednesday, an MSNOW report published in May resurfaced, citing FBI officials who said the bureau had added some fugitives to the list even as their arrests were approaching.
“Look, it’s really simple,” Patel told News Outlet. “The FBI’s Most Wanted list and any other campaign we’re putting on has been going on for at least 75 years. The career staff at the bureau manage that list. They look and say, ‘Who’s the target of opportunity? Who can we get? Who’s the worst perpetrator who’s been on the run?’ and then they announce it. I literally don’t have anything to do with it.”
Federal authorities said Operation Summer Heat 2.0 produced more than 8,900 arrests, along with the seizure of thousands of weapons and hundreds of fentanyl shipments. (FBI)
“I just think that those critics out there are super unpleased with the fact that the Trump administration and this FBI delivered on what used to be an apolitical mission of keeping law enforcement at the top and protecting our American citizens,” he added.
Patel credited the FBI’s surge in high-profile arrests, record fentanyl seizures and weapons recoveries during Operation Summer Heat 2.0 to a broad restructuring of the agency. The changes permanently transferred nearly 2,000 FBI employees to field offices nationwide while significantly reducing the bureau’s Washington-based bureaucracy.
The FBI, Patel said, has moved beyond temporary crime “surges” and adopted a permanent, field-centered enforcement strategy aimed at reducing violent crime throughout the year.
FBI Director Kash Patel outlined the results of Operation Summer Heat 2.0, a 95-day law enforcement effort targeting street gangs, drug traffickers and other criminals nationwide as authorities sought to reduce violent crime. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Operation Summer Heat 2.0 was the second edition of an initiative launched under the same name in 2025. The nationwide federal operation focused on violent crime, street gangs and drug-trafficking organizations. From June through August, FBI agents worked with local law enforcement agencies to pursue suspected offenders in metropolitan areas across the country.
“You have to talk to the American people. You have to show up in the field and you have to drive resources and permanently place people and technology in the field,” Patel said. “That was the sort of overarching approach to striking at the heart of violent crime.”
Authorities made more than 8,900 arrests during this year’s operation, a 3% increase over last summer’s Summer Heat initiative.
The FBI also reported seizing 5,013 weapons, a 120% increase from the previous operation. Authorities identified or located more than 1,400 children, up 34%, and carried out 687 fentanyl seizures, a 63% increase, the agency said.
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks while President Donald Trump watches during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump and Patel provided an update on the administration’s efforts to reduce violent crime. (Getty Images)
“So from last year to this year, we wanted to run that playbook for Summer Heat 2.0, and the only thing we did a little differently was we added even more bodies to the field,” Patel said. “So the enterprise-wide lift, shift, focus, and pivot was: we’re not on defense anymore. In order to catch violent criminals and defend the homeland, you have to go on offense.”
Patel said the latest operation built on the previous year’s effort through expanded cooperation among agencies and other measures, producing what he described as significant public-safety gains in urban communities.
“Just to show you that it’s working in every single city and major metropolis across the country, last year for the first time, America saw 1.1 million fewer violent aggravated assaults, rapes, robberies, and homicides,” Patel said. “That’s 1.1 million fewer victims across the country because of what the federal government, the Bureau, and our partners were able to bring to bear across the country.”
