ICE deports Mexican fugitive suspected of ambushing humanitarian convoy, killing 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. - A Mexican national, who is wanted in his native country for murder, was handed over to Mexican law enforcement officials Oct. 5, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Juan Macario Bautista-Martinez, 23, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry. Bautista-Martinez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in 2012 with a double homicide committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2010. According to the Mexican arrest warrant, Bautista-Martinez and others, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, allegedly ambushed a humanitarian convoy of 27 people, killing two and injuring 10 others.
ERO officers, aided by special agents from the FBI and officers from the Rhinebeck Police Department and New York State Police, arrested Bautista-Martinez June 16, at an area business. Department of Homeland Security databases indicate Bautista-Martinez was repatriated to Mexico on two prior occasions in 2014. ICE reinstated Bautista-Martinez’s removal order, paving the way for his most recent repatriation.
"This case shows yet again the vital public safety role ERO plays in the community," said Michael Phillips, field office director for ERO Buffalo. "Thanks to enhanced technology and increased information sharing, it's more and more difficult for international fugitives to outrun the law."
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 1,150 foreign fugitives from the United States who were sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Operations, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the United States. Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.
In fiscal year 2015, ICE conducted 235,413 removals nationwide. Ninety-one percent of individuals removed from the interior of the United States had previously been convicted of a criminal offense.
ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security.
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