ERO Philadelphia removes Brazilian noncitizen wanted for drug trafficking

PHILADELPHIA — Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia removed Luciano Silva Santos Jr., a citizen of Brazil with a final order of removal, on May 31. Silva is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Brazil to serve a sentence for drug trafficking and firearm possession.

“The drug trafficking crisis in America is fueled by individuals such as Luciano Silva Santos Jr. His escape from justice in his home country to the U.S., is typical of the sort of criminal noncitizen that ERO works every day to apprehend,” said ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley. “ERO will continue to fulfill its mission of safeguarding the American public.”

Silva is wanted in Brazil for drug trafficking and firearm possession.

The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Silva near Yuma, Arizona, for entering the United States without admission or parole by an immigration official on Dec. 16, 2021. On the same date, Border Patrol officials issued Silva an arrival/departure record, paroling him into the United States and released him from custody.

ERO Phoenix enrolled Silva in the Alternatives to Detention program on Dec. 20, 2021.

ERO Boston remotely processed Silva and issued him a notice to appear charging inadmissibility on Feb. 20, 2022. On March 7, 2023, ERO Philadelphia terminated him from the ATD program for failing to comply with reporting requirements.

On March 8, 2023, an immigration judge in Philadelphia ordered Silva removed in absentia from the United States to Brazil. He was arrested on April 11, 2024, by ERO Philadelphia during a targeted enforcement action and detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Phillipsburg, where he remained pending removal proceedings.

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.