ERO Salt Lake City removes Honduran fugitive wanted for weapons charges

SALT LAKE CITY— Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Salt Lake City removed an unlawfully present foreign fugitive April 18 wanted by law enforcement authorities in his home country of Honduras for illegal carrying of firearms for commercial use and illegal possession of ammunition for prohibited use.

Nilson Doblado Doblado, 47, departed from Las Vegas, Nevada, and arrived at the San Pedro Sula airport in Honduras, where he was handed over to authorities.

“This fugitive has been removed from the United States a total of 11 times between 1998 and 2024. This will make the 12th, and we hope final, time,” said ERO Salt Lake City Field Office Director Michael Bernacke. “This fugitive needs to face justice in his own country.”

Doblado was arrested by immigration officials seven times and removed from the United States on six separate occasions from 1998 to 2009.

ERO Salt Lake City encountered Doblado at the Salt Lake County Adult Detention Complex, in South Salt Lake upon his arrest for possession of controlled substance. Officers with ERO lodged a detainer Feb. 26, 2009, and the Third District Court in Salt Lake City convicted him for the possession offense March 5, 2009, and sentenced him to prison. He was removed to Honduras April 23, 2009.

Doblado was arrested attempting to reenter the United States Nov. 12, 2009 and was removed Dec. 3. He then reentered the United States and was discovered living in Salt Lake City after his arrest for possession of a controlled substance Dec. 9, 2010. On Jan. 26, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Utah convicted Doblado for the offense of reentry of a previously removed alien and sentenced him to time served. He was then removed Feb. 23, 2012. He was removed twice more in 2016-2017.

Doblado was arrested Dec. 5, 2023, during a targeted enforcement operation in West Valley City.

Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.

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 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ERO’s mission to preserve public safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROSaltLakeCity.