ERO Boston arrests Dominican national charged with drug crimes in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended a Dominican national charged locally with drug manufacturing and distribution. Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested the 35-year-old noncitizen July 8 in Quincy.

“This Dominican national unlawfully entered the United States earlier this year, and he has already been arrested for manufacturing and distributing poison in our communities,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We will continue to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners to prioritize public safety. Local jurisdictions honoring ICE immigration detainers enables the officers of ERO Boston to safely keep egregious noncitizen offenders from revictimizing the residents of our New England neighborhoods.”

U.S. Border Patrol arrested the Dominican noncitizen Feb. 7 after he unlawfully entered the United States near Brownsville, Texas. Immigration officials processed him as an expedited removal and released him on his own recognizance to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge at a future date.

The Quincy Police Department arrested the Dominican national July 5 for the offenses of manufacture/distribute Class A drugs and manufacture/distribute Class B drugs.

The Quincy District Court arraigned the Dominican noncitizen July 8 for the charges of manufacture/distribute Class A drugs and manufacture/distribute Class B drugs.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against the Dominican national July 8 with the Norfolk County Correctional Center in Dedham. Later that day, ERO Boston arrested the Dominican noncitizen. Authorities safely transferred custody upon his release from the Quincy District Court. He remains in ERO custody.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 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.

Members of the public with information regarding noncitizen offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

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.

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