News Releases and Statements

Edwin Antonio Torres, 27, was flown to El Salvador Nov. 4 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, Torres was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police (PNC).

According to court documents, Jose Avianeda-Espinoza, 44, a citizen of Mexico, fraudulently used a U.S. citizen’s identity for nearly 17 years to obtain a number of government identifications and to avoid deportation.

Jose Alberto Orozco-Ramirez, 48, was the subject of an Interpol warrant for rape against a minor. He entered ICE custody May 26. Orozco-Ramirez was originally admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant B-2 visitor June 3, 2003, but exceeded his stay.

Ahmed Nasir Tahlil Mohamud, 41, formerly of Anaheim Calif., was repatriated on board commercial flights escorted by Los Angeles-based ERO deportation officers as far as Nairobi, Kenya. After arriving in Nairobi, the deportation officers transferred Mohamud to a non-stop flight bound for Mogadishu and Somali authorities subsequently confirmed his arrival.

Arcenio Esparza-Perez, 40, was transported by bus to the U.S. Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, and transferred to Mexican authorities Oct. 28.

Tomas Lopez Meza, 48, is wanted in Honduras for a warrant issued on Dec. 29, 1997, for attempted homicide.

Bertin Emeterio-Tinoco, 48, and Crispin Rizo-Mendoza, 55, were transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO’s Special Response Team at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Cosmin Diamant, 28, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to the custody of the Romanian police. Diamant’s repatriation follows his arrest at his Phoenix residence in April by officers with ERO and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Ever Alonso Deras-Morales, 26, was transported by bus to the U.S. Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, and transferred to Mexican authorities Oct. 11.

Agustin Espinoza-Betancourt, 34, is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for allegedly committing murder in 1999 in Morelos, Mexico. According to the Red Notice, on Feb 6, 1999, Espinoza-Betancourt got into an altercation with his neighbors — a mother and son — and shot the son four times, killing him. The mother attempted to shield her son and was shot twice, but survived.

Azucena Garcia-Ferniza, 22, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm while unlawfully in the United States. In her plea, she admitted that on May 7, 2015, she unlawfully possessed a Glock model 30 .45-caliber pistol. Her visitor’s visa had expired in February 1998.

Juan Carlos Aguilar-Membreno, 25, the subject of an Interpol warrant for aggravated homicide and a confirmed MS-13 gang affiliation, the national and transnational gang with branches or “cliques” operating throughout the United States, was taken into ICE custody on June 1, 2016. He was ordered removed from the United States on August 24, 2016 by an Immigration judge.

Juan Macario Bautista-Martinez, 23, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry. Bautista-Martinez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in 2012 with a double homicide committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2010. 

According to court documents, Guillermo Lucas-Mazariegos, 31, of Guatemala, was previously removed from the United States to Guatemala in April 2008 and September 2010, and was also previously removed from the United States to Mexico in April 2011.

Ratko Maslenjak, 57, a former Cleveland-area resident and his wife, Divna Maslenjak, 53, arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 1, via commercial aircraft. ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers witnessed the pair’s departure from JFK International Airport and confirmed their arrival with Serbian authorities.

Jesus Godofredo Aguilar Guillen, 50, a criminally-convicted alien illegally present in the United States and the subject of an Interpol warrant for fraud, was taken into ICE custody on Aug. 18,.  Aguilar Guillen was wanted by Peruvian authorities for fraud and had illegally re-entered the United States after being deported in 2004.

Of the 51 individuals arrested, 47 had previously been convicted of crimes like grand larceny and rape. Three of the four remaining individuals have pending charges against them; one is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. One person was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in January 2015, making him a priority for civil immigration enforcement.

Lazaro Gerardo Rascon-Balbastro, 26, and Abelardo Ibarra-De La O, 26, were both transported by bus to the U.S. Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, and transferred to Mexican authorities Sept. 26.

Mynor Guillermo Pinto-Lopez , 35, was repatriated on board an ICE Air flight that originated in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After arriving in Guatemala City, ERO officers transferred Pinto-Lopez to the custody of Guatemalan law enforcement.

Jesus Salazar-Martinez, 30, a Mexican national who was illegally residing in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was sentenced Sept. 13 by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 15 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported.

Henry Omar Vigil-Castellon, 27, was flown to El Salvador Sept. 9 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, the suspect was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police (PNC).

Milton Berrera-Lopez, 29, a Guatemalan national, was released from local custody Aug. 30, two weeks after being convicted of two counts of indecent exposure and providing false identification to a law enforcement officer, for which he was sentenced to 23 months’ time served, two years’ probation and ordered to have no contact with minors.