ERO Houston removes MS-13 gang member wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide

HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston, with assistance from ERO El Salvador and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, removed Moises Antonio Chavez Figueroa, a 32-year-old unlawfully present Salvadoran fugitive, from the United States April 5. Chavez is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide.

Chavez was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, on a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit to the Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon arrival, he was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police.

“This foreign fugitive fled from El Salvador to avoid prosecution for aggravated homicide and attempted to illegally enter the U.S., where he would have presented an immediate threat to public safety,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. “Thanks to the outstanding teamwork between ERO Houston and our partners at the U.S. Border Patrol, we were able to quickly apprehend him and remove him back to his country, where he will face justice for his alleged crimes.”

Chavez illegally entered the United States June 28, 2023, near Eagle Pass and was immediately apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol. On July 1, 2023, he was transferred into ERO Houston custody and placed into immigration proceedings. On Oct. 24, 2023, ERO Houston confirmed with the Salvadoran government that Chavez has an active arrest warrant for aggravated homicide. On Dec. 1, 2023, an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Chavez removed from the United States to El Salvador. ICE officers carried out his removal to El Salvador on April 5.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives may contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

For more news and information on how ERO Houston carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROHouston.

The SAFE Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain and remove individuals residing in the U.S. illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation’s AAR, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general and national identification repositories — as well as other regional, national, state and local government agencies. The managing AAR ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program’s standard operating procedures. Once established, the AAR-led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.

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.