ERO Boston arrests Dominican national charged with fentanyl trafficking in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 39-year-old Dominican national charged with fentanyl trafficking in Providence. Deportation officers with ERO Boston’s Providence field office arrested Yohan Perez-Chala July 15 in Cranston.

Perez-Chala claims he entered the United States at an unknown place on an unknown date without inspection sometime in 2023.

“Yohan Perez-Chala unlawfully entered this country and allegedly trafficked poison throughout our Rhode Island neighborhoods,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England. ERO Boston cannot allow noncitizen criminals to operate unabated in our communities.”

Perez-Chala unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

The Providence Police arrested Perez-Chala May 30 for the offense of fentanyl trafficking.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against Perez-Chala June 4 with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ Adult Correctional Institute in Cranston.

The Rhode Island Department of Corrections did not honor the ICE detainer and released Perez-Chala from custody July 15.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston’s Providence field office arrested Yohan Perez-Chala July 15 in Cranston.

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.