Wanted murder suspect deported to Mexico to face charges
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deported an alien Thursday wanted in Mexico for murder.
Victor Arreola-Portillo, 39, was handed over April 23 to Mexican authorities near Brownsville, Texas, to face charges for allegedly killing his wife’s lover.
According to Mexican authorities, the wife of the victim called Arreola to alert him that his wife and the victim’s husband were having an affair. On May 27, 2013, Arreola allegedly went to the convenience store where the victim worked in Asension, Chihuahua, Mexico, and confronted the man. Mexican authorities said the men then started arguing before Arreola allegedly pulled out a pistol and fatally shot the victim twice as he tried to flee.
On May 28, 2013, Arreola allegedly fled the scene and was caught illegally entering the United States by the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP). In October 2013, Arreola was convicted for the second time of re-entry of a removed alien and sentenced to two years in federal prison. Arreola had a 1998 re-entry conviction. On April 2, ERO Philadelphia encountered Arreola at the Federal Correctional Institution Beckley in Beaver, West Virginia, during a Criminal Alien Program (CAP) screening and lodged an immigration detainer on him. He was taken into ICE custody April 8 and detained before being remanded Thursday to Mexican authorities.
In addition to the pending murder charges, the Arreola has a decades’ long criminal record in the United States with multiple immigration violations.
“This alien’s criminal charges are heinous, and he will not hide from justice in the United States,” said Tom Decker, ERO field office director Philadelphia. “We will continue to seek and remove these criminals who pose a threat to our communities.”
Arreola’s first encounter with U.S. authorities was in October 1994 when the USBP granted him a voluntary return to Mexico after concluding he entered the country illegally.
In February 1998, he was issued an expedited removal order as an alien who made false claims to U.S. citizenship.
Arreola illegally re-entered the United States at an unknown date before September 2005 when the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, convicted him of two counts of attempted sexual assault and sentenced him to 33 months in jail with an additional lifetime of probation. He was subsequently deported in 2007.
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