Updated 1:55 pm
Two international fugitives were arrested on Martha’s Vineyard by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston earlier this month on charges that they allegedly committed in their native countries, according to press releases issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday.
On Sept. 17, customs officials arrested a 50-year-old Salvadoran man in Tisbury. He was charged in 2011 with crimes against humanity and illegal trafficking of persons by Salvadoran authorities.
Also on Sept. 17, a 36-year-old Brazilian man was arrested in Oak Bluffs for international drug trafficking crimes.
Names of both men were not released.
“With no U.S. criminality, we can’t release personal identifiable information,” James Covington, an ICE spokesperson, told the Times. Release of this information could hinder the removal of these individuals, Covington said.
Both fugitives are wanted by authorities in their native countries and are in ERO Boston’s custody.
Customs officials say the Salvadoran man “unlawfully” entered the United States multiple times, the most recent entry occurring at an unknown location and unknown date “without inspection, admission or parole by a U.S. immigration official.”
The first time the Salvadoran man was apprehended for unlawful entry into the United States was in 1994 by U.S. Border Patrol. He had entered the country near Harlingen, Texas. He was ordered to be sent back to El Salvador in 1995.
In 2003, the Superior Court of Portland, Maine convicted the Salvadoran man of disorderly conduct where he was ordered to pay a fine. The individual was again arrested by ERO Boston in Framingham in 2009 on charges related to immigration, though officials did not add specifics; he was later released on an order of supervision. ERO Boston had placed the man in an Alternatives to Detention program, a monitoring method for customs officials, and issued a departure plan. However, the man violated his program terms and was apprehended again by customs officials on May 20, 2010 before being deported to El Salvador on June 20, 2011.
“This Salvadoran fugitive is wanted by authorities in his native country to face some extremely serious and disturbing allegations,” ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in the release. “He attempted to hide out in Massachusetts and escape the law in his home country. He posed a substantial threat to the residents of Martha’s Vineyard. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety in all of our New England communities by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders.”
The Brazilian man lawfully entered the United States in Orlando, Florida on March 7, 2020 but “violated the terms of his legal admission.” The Brazilian court had convicted the individual of international drug trafficking on May 10, 2012 and sentenced him to 10 years and two months in prison. Officials did not release how he violated the terms of legal admission.
ERO Boston has also made other arrests on the Islands recently. A 24-year-old Brazilian national charged with five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor was arrested in Edgartown in August.
On Nantucket, four Salvadoran nationals were arrested in September for various sex crimes, including a 49-year-old who was charged with 11 counts of sex crimes against a child. A fifth Salvadoran man, a 30-year-old alleged MS-13 gang member who was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of assault and battery, was also arrested that month by ERO Boston.
Updated with information from ICE spokesperson James Covington.
