ICE Newark deports Brazilian man wanted in home country for armed robbery
NEWARK — A Brazilian man, wanted for armed robbery in his home country, was removed from the United States on Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and turned over to law enforcement officials in Brazil.
Enio Antonio Rodrigues, 48, departed from Miami after leaving Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday.
“Rodrigues was a high priority for removal,” said John Tsoukaris, field office director of ERO Newark. “Criminals like Rodrigues, who believe they can come to the United States, hiding from facing justice in their home country, will be removed from the United States.”
On Nov. 12, 2004, Rodrigues and a group of assailants, armed with handguns and rifles, seized a residential building in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Rodrigues and the armed assailants assaulted the residents of the building and visitors who entered or attempted to exit the building, robbing them of personal effects and high-valued items in their place of residence. On Sept.26, 2005, Rodrigues was convicted, in absentia, for armed robbery and sentenced to nine years and four months in prison.
In May 2008, the Brazilian 7th Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Rodrigues. In 2013, an Interpol Red Notice was issued for Rodrigues. On June 24, 2014, Rodrigues was arrested at his Newark residence by ICE ERO officers for being illegally present in the United States. An immigration judge granted Rodrigues voluntary departure Nov. 14, 2014.
Newark ERO officers escorted Rodrigues to Brazil and turned him over to Brazilian Federal Police assigned to Interpol in Minas Gerais upon his arrival at the Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He will now face the 2005 armed robbery charge.
Agencies participating in this case include ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil; the Brazilian Federal Police Interpol, and the U.S. Department of State - Regional Security Office (RSO) at the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
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