News Releases and Statements

Juan Carlos Aguilar-Membreno, 25, the subject of an Interpol warrant for aggravated homicide and a confirmed MS-13 gang affiliation, the national and transnational gang with branches or “cliques” operating throughout the United States, was taken into ICE custody on June 1, 2016. He was ordered removed from the United States on August 24, 2016 by an Immigration judge.

Juan Macario Bautista-Martinez, 23, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry. Bautista-Martinez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in 2012 with a double homicide committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2010. 

According to court documents, Guillermo Lucas-Mazariegos, 31, of Guatemala, was previously removed from the United States to Guatemala in April 2008 and September 2010, and was also previously removed from the United States to Mexico in April 2011.

Ratko Maslenjak, 57, a former Cleveland-area resident and his wife, Divna Maslenjak, 53, arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 1, via commercial aircraft. ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers witnessed the pair’s departure from JFK International Airport and confirmed their arrival with Serbian authorities.

Jesus Godofredo Aguilar Guillen, 50, a criminally-convicted alien illegally present in the United States and the subject of an Interpol warrant for fraud, was taken into ICE custody on Aug. 18,.  Aguilar Guillen was wanted by Peruvian authorities for fraud and had illegally re-entered the United States after being deported in 2004.

Of the 51 individuals arrested, 47 had previously been convicted of crimes like grand larceny and rape. Three of the four remaining individuals have pending charges against them; one is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. One person was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in January 2015, making him a priority for civil immigration enforcement.

Lazaro Gerardo Rascon-Balbastro, 26, and Abelardo Ibarra-De La O, 26, were both transported by bus to the U.S. Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, and transferred to Mexican authorities Sept. 26.

Mynor Guillermo Pinto-Lopez , 35, was repatriated on board an ICE Air flight that originated in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After arriving in Guatemala City, ERO officers transferred Pinto-Lopez to the custody of Guatemalan law enforcement.

Jesus Salazar-Martinez, 30, a Mexican national who was illegally residing in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was sentenced Sept. 13 by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 15 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported.

Henry Omar Vigil-Castellon, 27, was flown to El Salvador Sept. 9 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, the suspect was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police (PNC).

Milton Berrera-Lopez, 29, a Guatemalan national, was released from local custody Aug. 30, two weeks after being convicted of two counts of indecent exposure and providing false identification to a law enforcement officer, for which he was sentenced to 23 months’ time served, two years’ probation and ordered to have no contact with minors.

During the 12-day enforcement action, ERO officers apprehended 64 aliens with criminal convictions. The remaining 37 fall under the agency’s enforcement priorities as recent immigration violators or important federal interest cases. Those arrested had criminal histories with past convictions for drug trafficking, DUI, weapons violations, child sex offenses, identity theft, and other serious criminal offenses. Two of those taken into custody now face federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Elmer Tinoco-Eutimio, 22, was turned over to Mexican authorities Aug. 31 at the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge in Laredo.  Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republic (PGR) issued a warrant for his arrest for homicide on Dec. 2, 2015. According to PGR, on Feb. 11, 2015, Tinoco-Eutimio broke into a home in Luvianos, Mexico, where he allegedly used a hammer to murder an elderly woman.

The men have previous convictions for crimes including DUI, aggravated assault, weapons offenses and narcotics manufacturing.

Melvin Eduardo Ramos, 34, is wanted in his home country for aggravated murder.

During the five-day enforcement action, ERO officers apprehended aliens with criminal convictions, in addition to others who fall under the agency’s enforcement priorities. Those arrested had criminal histories with past convictions for rape, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and other serious criminal offenses.

Lubomir Koscak, 30, wanted by Slovakian authorities for robbery, was taken into ICE custody on Jun. 20 as part of operation Project Red II pursuant to an Interpol notice.  Koscak violated the terms of his non-immigrant Visa Waiver admission to the United States by overstaying his admission period and was consequently issued an administrative removal order.

A citizen and national of El Salvador was removed from the United States on Aug. 12, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).  She is charged in El Salvador for being a member of the transnational criminal gang, MS-13.  

Luis Raul Quiroz-Gongora, aka “El Zorro,” 29, was transferred by ICE ERO officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office. An arrest warrant issued in November 2013 by a judge in Sonora, Mexico, charges Quiroz with murder. 

One of the murder suspects, Francisco Inestroza-Martinez, 35, is a former Honduran police officer wanted in his native country on a homicide related charge. Inestroza was repatriated to Honduras on board a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s IAO. The second fugitive repatriated Wednesday, Jesus Balderama-Vega, 55, is the subject of a criminal warrant issued in 2006 by authorities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa charging him with the shooting death of a 55-year-old man that occurred the year before.

Ramon Aguirre-Ochoa, 45, is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, indecent assault on person less than 13, indecent exposure, and simple assault. He is currently being held at Curran Frommhold Correctional Facility on a $500,000 bail.

On July 25, deportation officers conducting a targeted law enforcement action in and around Chesapeake, Virginia, encountered one of the worst kinds of criminals, an aggravated felon, who had already been removed from the United States.

In Skagit County, 10 individuals were taken into custody, including nine from Mt. Vernon and one from Burlington. In Whatcom County, nine individuals were taken into custody from cities including: Bellingham (3), Bow (1), Everson (2), Ferndale (2) and Lynden (1).