ICE officers deport Mexican man wanted for aggravated murder
PHOENIX — A Mexican fugitive wanted for aggravated murder was deported Tuesday and turned over to law enforcement authorities.
This deportation was conducted by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Phoenix.
William Antonio Martinez-Aguilar, 36, was turned over to Mexican Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and Interpol officers without incident through the Nogales, DeConcini Port of Entry in Arizona on July 21 about 3 p.m.
Martinez-Aguilar is believed to have illegally entered the United States June 20, 2003 near San Luis, Arizona.
Mexico’s PGR confirmed to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) March 10, 2011 that Martinez-Aguilar had an active felony warrant of arrest for homicide by gunshot in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.
On Feb. 23, 2015, USMS contacted ERO’s Foreign Operations Branch in Tuscan, Arizona, requesting assistance to arrest and repatriate Martinez-Aguilar to Mexico. USMS marshals had been actively tracking Martinez-Aguilar from Phoenix and in the Denver area. ICE officers confirmed the active warrant with Mexico’s PGR April 17. Martinez-Aguilar was arrested April 22 by ICE Denver officers at his home in Fort Collins, Colorado, with the assistance of USMS. He was subsequently taken into custody by ICE.
ICE Denver officers transported Martinez-Aguilar to Phoenix June 30 in preparation for his removal to Mexico.
“Many law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Mexico worked cooperatively to bring this fugitive to justice, and to ensure that foreign criminals don’t use the United States as a safe haven from the crimes they’ve committed in their home countries,” said John P. Longshore, field office director for ERO Denver. “These removals of dangerous criminal aliens help protect the public by removing these criminal aliens who pose a danger to local U.S. communities.”
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