ICE deports 4 Salvadoran murder suspects captured in US

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Four Salvadoran nationals who are wanted in their native country for various crimes – including homicide, aggravated kidnapping, robbery, extortion and membership to the illicit groups MS-13 and 18th Street – were turned over to authorities in El Salvador Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). This is the latest result of stepped up collaborative efforts to locate Salvadoran criminal fugitives in the United States and return them to El Salvador to face justice.

Repatriated on board a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations (IAO) Unit were Jose Ulloa Escobar, 32; Oscar Armando Palacios Avalos, 33; and Angel Interiano-Calderon aka El Capo de Vegas, 29, all Salvadoran citizens, and Melvin Noe Lazo-Sanchez aka Melvin Noe Sanchez-Izaguirre, 34, a citizen of El Salvador and Honduras. Ulloa is wanted by Salvadoran authorities for aggravated homicide while Palacios is wanted for extortion, membership to the illicit group 18th Street gang and conspiracy to commit aggravated homicide. Interiano-Calderon is wanted on charges for murder, kidnapping and membership to the illicit group MS-13. Lazo-Sanchez, who was previously removed from the United States and illegally re-entered, is wanted for homicide, aggravated kidnapping and robbery.

Upon arrival, ERO officers turned the suspects over to officials from the El Salvadoran Civilian National Police (PNC).

"The successful apprehension and removal of these four violent criminals would not have been possible without the close cooperation and partnership that ICE and Salvadoran law enforcement have in identifying, locating, arresting and ultimately bringing to justice fugitives that seek safe haven in the United States," said ICE Assistant Attaché for Removals in El Salvador John Duncan. "Heinous criminals like this who attempt to evade justice by fleeing to the United States will find no sanctuary in our communities. We will continue working with the PNC, INTERPOL, the Salvadoran Attorney General's Office and Salvadoran Immigration to promote public safety and identify and arrest foreign fugitives and return them to El Salvador where they stand accused."

The deportation of these four fugitives is another example of expanded bi-national cooperation to identify, arrest and repatriate Salvadoran criminal suspects who have fled to the United States to avoid prosecution. ICE officers are working closely with the PNC, the Salvadoran National INTERPOL Office, the National Registry of Natural Persons and Salvadoran Immigration as part of this effort. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2013, the PNC executed more than 110 criminal arrest warrants with fugitives being returned to El Salvador aboard IAO removal flights. Many of those arrests involved homicide-related charges or other violent crimes.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 565 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with the Office of International Affairs for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.