ICE removes 2 Brazilian fugitives
BOSTON – Two Brazilian fugitives wanted for separate crimes in Brazil were removed from the U.S. June 16 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers in Boston, Massachusetts.
Adilson Pires Ribeiro and Wagner Gregorio De Souza were transferred into the custody of the Brazilian Federal Police once they arrived in Brazil the morning of June 17.
Ribeiro, 48, who overstayed his U.S. visa, is wanted by Brazilian law enforcement authorities for defrauding Caixa Economica Federal, the second largest government-owned bank in Brazil. According to Brazilian police reports, from 1997 to 2001, while working at the bank, Ribeiro withdrew money from accounts held at the bank and deposited that money into an account he fraudulently opened. In 2013, Ribeiro was convicted in absentia and sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment. He fled from Brazil prior to serving his sentenced. He was arrested in January 2015 following a joint operation between ERO Providence, Rhode Island, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Boston. ERO officers and HSI special agents also worked closely with the HSI Brasilia Attaché Office and Interpol to track down Ribeiro.
In a separate case, according to official records, Wagner Gregorio De Souza was convicted and sentenced in 2007, to three years imprisonment for firearms violations in Brazil. He fled to the U.S. prior to serving his sentence. De Souza, who illegally entered the U.S. at an unknown place and time, was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge June 28, 2011, but failed to depart. He was arrested in April 2015 by HSI and ERO personnel in Boston, Massachusetts.
"Foreign fugitives who think they can use New England as their hiding ground are wrong," said Sean Gallagher, ERO Boston field office director. "It may take us weeks, months or years, but we’ll track down those who are eluding justice and trying to make the United States their safe haven."
In fiscal year 2014, ERO removed 315,943 individuals from the United States. In addition to convicted criminals, the agency's enforcement priorities include those apprehended while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States, illegal re-entrants – individuals who returned to the United States after being previously removed by ICE – and immigration fugitives. In fiscal year 2014, 98 percent of ICE removals met these priorities.
Through its International Operations, HSI has 67 operational attaché offices in 48 countries around the world. HSI special agents work closely with foreign law enforcement agencies. Additionally, HSI brings personnel from host countries to the United States to train at the Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.
Updated: