ICE removes Mexican kidnapping suspect to Mexico

RICHMOND, Va. – A Mexican national wanted for kidnapping in Mexico was escorted out of the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers Friday and turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials.

Joel Quintero-Cisneros, 30, is wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant in Mexico for aggravated kidnapping. According to the warrant, dated March 13, the crime occurred May 6, 2011, in Santa Gertrudis in the Mexican state of Oaxaca at approximately 9 p.m. Quintero-Cisneros, armed with a .38 caliber handgun, and two co-conspirators who have already been sentenced, kidnapped the victim – a mother of three young children – at her home and demanded 1.5 million pesos (approximately $116,000) in ransom from the victim's relatives.

"Mr. Quintero-Cisneros will now have to face justice for this alleged horrific crime," said M. Yvonne Evans, field office director for ERO Washington. "My office is committed to working closely with our foreign law enforcement partners to remove and return individuals like this, who are wanted for violent crimes in their home countries."

Quintero-Cisneros entered the United States illegally on an unknown date and at an unknown location. On Aug. 22, ERO's fugitive operations team apprehended Quintero-Cisneros at his residence in Danville, Va., based on his illegal status in the United States.

On Nov. 1, an immigration judge in Arlington, Va., granted Quintero-Cisneros voluntary departure under safeguards. Due to the active warrant in Mexico, ERO escorted him back to his home country and turned him over to the custody of Mexican law enforcement officials.

Quintero-Cisneros was flown via an ERO Air Operations Unit (IAO) charter flight to Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, and then escorted by ERO San Antonio's special response team to the Gateway International Bridge Port of Entry in Brownsville, Texas. Prior to his removal, Quintero-Cisneros was being held in ERO custody at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Va.

Since 2006, the IAO Unit, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., has supported ERO by providing mass air transportation and removal coordination services to ERO field offices nationwide. Staffed by ERO officers, these air charters enable the agency to repatriate large groups of deportees in an efficient, expeditious and humane manner.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 500 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 Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.