ICE deports man wanted on gang charges, aggravated homicide in El Salvador
Interpol Red Notice issued for man’s arrest
BALTIMORE — An El Salvadoran national and MS-13 gang member, wanted in his home country on gang charges and aggravated homicide was deported Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Fernando Alberto Villatoro-Lizama, 23, who had been residing in Annapolis, Maryland, was escorted by ERO officers to Louisiana Oct. 6 and was repatriated onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. He was turned over to El Salvadoran authorities.
”Removing public safety threats from the United States to their home countries to face justice is at the core of ERO’s mission,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director of ERO Baltimore. “Individuals who believe they can escape justice in their home country by fleeing to the United States are mistaken. They will be arrested by ERO and deported.”
An ICE detainer was placed on Villatoro-Lizama July 2, while he was incarcerated at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on local criminal charges. He was turned over to ICE the same day. An immigration judge subsequently ordered him removed from the United States Aug. 27.
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 720 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 ICE's Office of International Operations, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.
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