News Releases and Statements

Luis Alfonso Cantu-Maya, 48, and Luis Jesus Cantu-Garcia, 21, were turned over to Mexican authorities at the top of El Paso’s Stanton International Bridge. They face charges for aggravated homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery.

All of the foreign nationals targeted by ICE ERO officers during last week's enforcement action had prior criminal convictions. Many had criminal histories that included convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes and assault.

Jony William Guillen-Alvarado, 27, was repatriated under tight security, escorted by members of ERO’s operations coordination team. Upon arriving in San Pedro Sula, Guillen was transferred to the custody of Honduran law enforcement.

The federal grand jury in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania indicted Jose Ramos, 33, Wednesday and charged him with being a previously convicted of an aggravated felon offence and being deported from the United States in 2010.

Chant Kilajian Akmakji, 27, was repatriated via commercial flights escorted by ERO officers. Upon arrival at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, ERO officers transferred Kilajian to the custody of Venezuelan law enforcement officials.

Raymond Laurence Burke, 62, was escorted by ERO officers to Denver International Airport and on to Toronto, Canada. He was then transferred to Canadian authorities at the Toronto Pearson International Airport Authority.

Of the 46 taken into custody by ERO, 23 met the agency’s highest priority level due to felony convictions or participation in a criminal street gang. An additional 23 arrestees also met the ICE enforcement priorities for arrests due to serious or multiple misdemeanor convictions.

Oscar Alexander Salamanca-Vargas, 26, aka El Pepsi, was flown to El Salvador Oct. 23 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).

Mamadu Serifo Biai (a/k/a Saliu Sisse) was convicted May 19 of conspiracy to provide material support to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), a foreign terrorist organization; conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism; conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States; and conspiracy to acquire and transfer anti-aircraft missiles. That same day, he was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment. He was credited for prison time he served during his criminal proceedings.

Roberto Garcia-Castillon, aka “El Robi,” 47, was repatriated under tight security, escorted by members of ERO’s tactical team and U.S. Border Patrol agents. After arriving at the Nogales border crossing, he was transferred to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Procuradaria General de la Republica (PGR). Garcia is charged with a kidnapping and triple homicide that occurred in the Mexican state of Sonora in September 2011.

Upon his arrival in El Salvador, ERO officers transferred Jose Ricardo Portillo-Morales, 28, to the custody of the Policia Nacional Civil (PNC), El Salvador’s national police. Portillo-Morales is allegedly a member of “Lil Cycos Salvatruchas” (GLCS), a clique of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang.

Jose Refugio Gonzalez-Gaytan, 37, was turned over to Mexican authorities at the top of El Paso’s Stanton International Bridge. He is wanted for allegedly stabbing Luis Daniel Sanchez Morales, 22, multiple times causing his death in May 2014.

“These aliens were targeted because they meet the agency’s highest enforcement priorities,” said Tom Decker, ERO Philadelphia field office director. “By taking these individuals off our streets and removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone.”

All of those arrested by ICE during the enforcement action, which concluded Sept. 29, met at least one of the agency’s three enforcement priorities. Over one quarter had criminal records that included felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as murder, attempted murder, child sex crimes, sex offenses, weapons charges and drug violations.

Some illicit marijuana grow operations were located in multiple residences and outbuildings; many others were located on federal land, causing environmental damage that may take years to repair. In every case, these marijuana grow operations were illegal under federal law and unlicensed by state authorities under Colorado’s marijuana regulatory system.

Jose Alvarado is wanted in Coahuila, Mexico, in connection with the 2002 murder of Saul Chavez Rodriguez. The Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PJGE) in Mexico issued a warrant for his arrest March 10, 2015.

Cesar Amauri Cruz-Marin, 42, was previously removed from the United States in November 2009. According to Salvadoran authorities, after his return to El Salvador, Cruz shot three men in the head in December 2010 and then fled. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States at an unknown time and was arrested by a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force Oct. 23, 2014, in Madison, Tennessee.

Oscar Avila-Osorio, 24, is wanted in his home country for raping a minor and was the subject of an Interpol notice.

Juan Figueroa-Martinez, 27, was flown to Guatemala Sept. 16 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, Figueroa-Martinez was turned over to officials Guatemalan authorities.

Lucian Serban, 41, arrived in Bucharest, Romania, Sept. 16 under ICE escort and was turned over to Romanian authorities.

Cesar Vega-Muñoz was turned over Sept. 14 to Mexican officials at the top of the Stanton International Bridge Port of Entry.

Carlos Valencia-Zepeda, 34, of Mexico, was sentenced Sept. 9 by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 18 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after having been deported, which is a felony. Valencia-Zepeda pleaded guilty to the charge July 7.

Tiburicio Juarez Chavez, 28, formerly of Encinitas, was transferred by San Diego-based officers from the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Special Response Team to the custody of representatives from Mexican Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Juarez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in June with an aggravated rape committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in May 2013.

Seventy eight of the foreign nationals taken into custody by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers during the enforcement action, which concluded Thursday, had prior criminal convictions, with the exception of one, who’s being charged federally with reentry after deportation.