MS-13 Gangbanger Arrested for Murder
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 11, 2006
A man wanted by authorities in El Salvador for murder is behind bars following his arrest by special agents with Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Newark, NJ Fugitive Operations Team.
Newark Detention and Removal officers arrested 25-year-old Rene Hugo Mejia Juarez in a pre-dawn operation. Mejia was located following a brief but intensive investigation.
When ICE officers knocked on the door of the house Mejia was in, he attempted to flee through a side entrance but was apprehended. The Midland Park Police Department and the United States Marshals Service assisted in the operation.
Mejia is the subject of an Interpol warrant for a murder committed in El Salvador. “Apprehending and removing violent alien gang members from the United States is a priority for ICE,” said Field Office Director Raymond Simonse. “In the last 11 months ICE has arrested more than 1,800 gang members, including 805 MS-13. The message is loud and clear: Those who were once the hunters are now the hunted.”
in a related story, 12 criminal aliens were apprehended during a major drug enforcement operation on Tuesday. Agents and police from a local drug task force developed information that the 12 individuals in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were non-citizens who were deportable due to their criminal convictions.
All of the criminals apprehended in Tuesday's early morning operation will be charged with being removable from the country and will remain in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending a hearing in immigration court.
The 12 individuals had convictions ranging from sale of narcotics, forgery, insurance fraud, felony theft, and endangering the welfare of a child. Two of the aliens were aggravated felons who have illegally re-entered the country after deportation, a federal felony. They will be presented to the United State’s Attorneys Office for criminal prosecution.
The joint law enforcement operation was led by ICE special agents from the Philadelphia office of investigation. The five arrest teams were made up of agents, officers from the ICE Detention and Removal Program, members of the Allentown Police Department, and the Lehigh County Drug Task Force.
Working with local police to target these individuals and get them off the streets means that Allentown and Bethlehem are safer communities today,” said Bill Riley, assistant special agent in charge of the Philadelphia office. “These criminals should not be allowed to continue preying on innocent residents. ICE can offer great assistance to local police by removing these deportable aliens from the community.”
Riley said close cooperation between ICE and the local agencies is essential because many of the leads on these criminals came from local police officers familiar with their beats. Riley pointed out that ICE has an agent assigned to the county drug task force.
Newark Detention and Removal officers arrested 25-year-old Rene Hugo Mejia Juarez in a pre-dawn operation. Mejia was located following a brief but intensive investigation.
When ICE officers knocked on the door of the house Mejia was in, he attempted to flee through a side entrance but was apprehended. The Midland Park Police Department and the United States Marshals Service assisted in the operation.
Mejia is the subject of an Interpol warrant for a murder committed in El Salvador. “Apprehending and removing violent alien gang members from the United States is a priority for ICE,” said Field Office Director Raymond Simonse. “In the last 11 months ICE has arrested more than 1,800 gang members, including 805 MS-13. The message is loud and clear: Those who were once the hunters are now the hunted.”
in a related story, 12 criminal aliens were apprehended during a major drug enforcement operation on Tuesday. Agents and police from a local drug task force developed information that the 12 individuals in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were non-citizens who were deportable due to their criminal convictions.
All of the criminals apprehended in Tuesday's early morning operation will be charged with being removable from the country and will remain in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending a hearing in immigration court.
The 12 individuals had convictions ranging from sale of narcotics, forgery, insurance fraud, felony theft, and endangering the welfare of a child. Two of the aliens were aggravated felons who have illegally re-entered the country after deportation, a federal felony. They will be presented to the United State’s Attorneys Office for criminal prosecution.
The joint law enforcement operation was led by ICE special agents from the Philadelphia office of investigation. The five arrest teams were made up of agents, officers from the ICE Detention and Removal Program, members of the Allentown Police Department, and the Lehigh County Drug Task Force.
Working with local police to target these individuals and get them off the streets means that Allentown and Bethlehem are safer communities today,” said Bill Riley, assistant special agent in charge of the Philadelphia office. “These criminals should not be allowed to continue preying on innocent residents. ICE can offer great assistance to local police by removing these deportable aliens from the community.”
Riley said close cooperation between ICE and the local agencies is essential because many of the leads on these criminals came from local police officers familiar with their beats. Riley pointed out that ICE has an agent assigned to the county drug task force.
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