ICE San Antonio deports Salvadoran MS-13 gang member wanted for aggravated extortion
SAN ANTONIO — A Salvadoran MS-13 gang member wanted for aggravated extortion in his home country was deported Thursday by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers from San Antonio.
On June 4, ICE deported Alfredo Napoleon Portillo-Coreas, 25, onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations (IAO) Unit. He was released to the custody of El Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil (PNC).
In July 2012, Portillo-Coreas telephoned a female victim demanding $500 as a deposit to secure her safety and that of her family. He then went on to demand $6,700 to be given in payments to keep the family from harm.
“This individual attempted to elude justice in El Salvador by seeking safe haven in the United States," said Enrique M. Lucero, field office director for ERO San Antonio. "ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners both here and abroad to ensure these individuals are identified and brought to justice."
Portillo-Coreas illegally entered the United States Oct. 3, 2014 near Granjeno, Texas. Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol arrested him and transferred him to ICE custody. On March 31, a federal immigration judge ordered that Portillo-Coreas be removed to El Salvador.
Portillo-Coreas is the most recent removal to El Salvador as part of ERO’s Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Initiative. The SAFE Initiative is geared toward identifying foreign fugitives who are wanted abroad and removable under U.S. immigration law. In just three years, through the SAFE Initiative, ERO has removed more than 540 criminal fugitives to El Salvador. Those removed as part of the SAFE Initiative have been deemed ineligible to remain in the United States, and were all wanted by El Salvador’s national police. SAFE aligns with ERO’s public safety priorities and eliminates the need for formal extradition requests.
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.
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