ICE Arrests 370 ‘Alien Offenders,’ Including Guatemalan Man in New Bedford

BOSTON (WBSM) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement partners have arrested 370 “alien offenders” during an “enhanced operation” in Massachusetts, including a man in New Bedford, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The FBI said that ICE teamed with federal law enforcement partners to “apprehend 370 illegal aliens in Massachusetts during an enhanced targeted enforcement operation focusing on transnational organized crime, gangs and egregious illegal alien offenders.”

The operation ran from March 18 through March 23, targeting “egregious criminal alien offenders including transnational criminal organizations known to operate in and around Boston and throughout Massachusetts,” according to the FBI.

“These organizations include the notorious MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios and 18th Street gangs,” the FBI said.

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The FBI reported that 205 of those arrested “had significant criminal convictions or charges,” and that “six were foreign fugitives currently facing charges or convictions for murder, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering.”

Also seized was approximately 44 kilograms of methamphetamines, five kilograms of fentanyl, 1.2 kilograms of cocaine, three firearms and ammunition.

In New Bedford, a man from Guatemala who had been charged with rape and convicted of enticing a minor under the age of 16 was arrested. The FBI said he had been released by New Bedford District Court without the ICE detainer being honored.

Others arrested across Massachusetts included Dominican aliens with drug crimes and another with homicide in his native country; a Chilean alien convicted of four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14; and a Honduran alien who illegally entered the U.S. after removal who had been convicted of rape of a child, assault and battery on a person over 14 and failure to register as a sex offender.

A Russian alien charged with unlawful possession of ammunition and wanted in his native country for armed robber and membership in a criminal organization was also arrested, as was a Salvadoran alien who had been previously deported and a documented member of the 18th Street gang, convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to two and a half years; and a Jamaican alien previously deported from the U.S. who had been convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, armed robbery, possession of a firearm and assault.

A number of Brazilian aliens were also arrested, including one charged with manslaughter, homicide by a motor vehicle, homicide while under the influence of liquor, breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a crime, and larceny.

Two other Brazilians were also wanted for murder, another wanted in his native country for failure to serve a sentence after being convicted of murder, and one wanted in his native country for drug trafficking, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization.

“Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in and around Boston,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde.

“ICE and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the homeland through the eradication of transnational criminal organizations, dismantling dangerous criminal gangs preying on the American public, locating and arresting criminal alien offenders, and making our communities a safer place to live,” Hyde said.