ERO Boston arrests accused fentanyl trafficker wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston arrested an alleged fentanyl trafficker who is wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic. Deportation officers with ERO Boston arrested the 27-year old Dominican national near his residence in Saugus March 21. The unlawfully present Dominican citizen is currently facing local fentanyl trafficking charges and was previously arrested for strangulation and assault and battery charges.

“This unlawfully present Dominican national fled his home country to avoid a murder trial,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “He made his way to Massachusetts and has been repeatedly apprehended by local authorities and charged with crimes of violence and drug crimes. ERO Boston will not allow the world’s offenders to take refuge in our communities. We will continue to aggressively arrest and remove any such criminal elements in New England.”

The Dominican national unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown location on an unknown date.

In November 2021, he became the subject of a criminal police warrant for the charge of homicide issued by a criminal court in the city of Bani in the Dominican Republic’s state of Peravia. Authorities in the Dominican Republic are seeking his custody for that charge.

In December 2021, the Dominican fugitive was charged with trafficking fentanyl in the Newburyport District Court. Those charges remain pending.

Later that month, he was charged with and arraigned on the offenses of strangulation/suffocation and assault and battery of a family household member in the West Roxbury District Court. That court later dismissed those charges.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston arrested the Dominican national for immigration violations March 21 in Saugus without incident. He will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the country.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Members of the public can report crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the ICE online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.