ICE arrests former Colombian intelligence agent convicted of homicide in Colombia

NEW YORK – A former agent of Colombia’s now disbanded intelligence agency, the Administrative Security Department or Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), was arrested on immigration violations Oct. 5 by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations New York office.

Javier Alfredo Valle Anaya, a 50-year-old citizen of Colombia, obtained his status in the U.S. through fraudulent means, which made him subject to removal. He was convicted in his native country on criminal charges for the 2004 murder of Alfredo Rafael Correa de Andreis, a sociologist, and his bodyguard Edilberto Ochoa Martinez. As a result, he is wanted by Colombian law enforcement authorities.

This case was investigated by HSI New York’s Document and Benefit Task Force (DBFTF) and ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). The HSI Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, assisted in the investigation. This case will be litigated by ICE’s New York Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

Established in 2009, the HRVWCC, furthers ICE’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. The HRVWCC leverages the expertise of a select group of agents, lawyers, intelligence and research specialists, historians and analysts who direct the agency’s broader enforcement efforts against these offenders.

Since 2003, ICE has arrested more than 410 individuals for human rights-related violations of the law under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE obtained deportation orders against and physically removed 943 known or suspected human rights violators from the United States. Additionally, ICE has facilitated the departure of an additional 128 such individuals from the United States.

Currently, HSI has more than 135 active investigations into suspected human rights violators and is pursuing more than 1,750 leads and removals cases involving suspected human rights violators from 95 different countries. Since 2003, the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center has issued more than 75,000 lookouts for individuals from more than 110 countries and stopped over 260 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S.

Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to call the ICE tip line at: 1-866-DHS-2423 (1-866-347-2423). Callers may remain anonymous.