BALTIMORE — A Mexican national residing in Silver Spring, Md., wanted in his native country for homicide was turned over to Mexican law enforcement representatives Monday evening by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Alejo Arellano-Flores, 56, was transported from Harrisburg International Airport in Harrisburg, Pa., on board an ICE Air Operations charter aircraft escorted by ERO officers to the Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas. Thereafter, ERO officers escorted him over the Brownsville International Bridge located in Brownsville, Texas and turned him over to the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) of Mexico. He is charged in a criminal warrant issued in February 2006 by the Criminal Court of Salvatierra, Ganajuato, in Mexico with homicide.
Arellano-Flores’s removal to Mexico comes less than two months after his capture by the U.S. Marshals Service. He was taken into ERO custody Jan. 24 on administrative immigration violations. Department of Homeland Security databases indicated Arellano-Flores originally entered the United States at an unknown place and date and resided unlawfully in the country.
“This arrest and repatriation should serve as a reminder to foreign fugitives who mistakenly believe they can elude justice by fleeing to this country,” said Calvin McCormick, field office director for ERO Baltimore. “ICE will continue to work closely with its foreign law enforcement counterparts not only to ensure that criminals are held accountable for their actions, but to safeguard the rights of law-abiding citizens here and overseas.”
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 335 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’s Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.
