ICE removes Ecuadorian national wanted for quadruple murder

ALEXANDRIA, La. – An Ecuadorian national wanted on multiple murder charges in his home country was removed from the United States Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to face charges.

Agustin Ramiro Ocampo-Tobar, 33, is charged with murdering four people in October 2011 in Santo Domingo, Ecuador.

"ICE will continue to focus its enforcement operations on identifying, arresting and removing dangerous criminals who pose the greatest risk to our communities," said Trey Lund, field office director for ERO New Orleans.

Lund oversees a five-state area of operations to include Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

ERO and a U.S. Marshall Fugitive Task Force took Ocampo-Tobar into custody in New York Oct. 7.

ERO officers removed Ocampo-Tobar via an ICE Air Operations charter flight Friday from Alexandria to Guayaquil, Ecuador. From there, ICE officers transferred him into Ecuadorian law enforcement custody.

Since 2006, ICE Air Operations, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., has supported ERO by providing mass air transportation and removal coordination services to ERO field offices nationwide. Staffed by ERO officers, these air charters enable the agency to repatriate large groups of deportees in an efficient, expeditious and humane manner.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 720 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.