ICE Houston deports Mexican man wanted for rape

HOUSTON – A Mexican man wanted in his native country for rape was deported Thursday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Baltazar Torres-Castorena, 23, was escorted to the Juarez Lincoln Port in Laredo, Texas, and turned over to Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) March 20.

"As a longtime member country of INTERPOL, the ICE National Fugitive Operations Program continues to work diligently in locating and arresting foreign fugitives," said David Jennings, field office director of ERO Houston. "This case is an example of efficient, worldwide police work. An accused rapist is now safely out of a U.S. community and able to answer the charges in his native country."

Torres-Castorena was arrested Jan. 21 by officers with ERO Houston’s Fugitive Operations. He was subsequently ordered to be removed from the United States by an immigration judge on Feb. 24.

This removal resulted from the expanded bi-national cooperation to identify, arrest and repatriate Mexican fugitives who have fled to the United States to avoid prosecution. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Attaché Office in Mexico works closely with the Mexican government as part of this effort. Many of the fugitives captured in the United States are wanted in Mexico for homicide or other violent crimes.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 645 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 HSI’s Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.

ERO 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. ERO also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system, including immigration fugitives, or criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.