Customs officers make another Vineyard arrest

By
Nicholas Vukota
-
74
Gustavo Augusto Mroczkoski, facing crimes for drug and firearm possession, was arrested in Oak Bluffs by Enforcement and removal Operations (ERO) Boston. —Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and

A 28-year-old Brazilian man, facing drug and firearm possession charges on Island, was apprehended in Oak Bluffs last month by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston, according to a press release by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In a statement released on Friday, officers from ERO Boston say they arrested Gustavo Augusto Mroczkoski on Sept. 17 and that he remains in their custody.

Federal officials say that Mroczkoski entered the United States unlawfully in May of 2021. 

“Gustavo Augusto Mroczkoski unlawfully entered the United States, made his way to Martha’s Vineyard and allegedly engaged in drug and weapons crimes,” said ERO Boston acting field office director Patricia H. Hyde. “His actions potentially endangered the members of this Massachusetts community. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by relentlessly pursuing, arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders.”

Mroczkoski was originally arrested on Island in March of this year on two counts of possessing a large capacity weapon and more than 300 rounds of ammunition without a firearm license. He was also charged with possessing Class C and Class E controlled substances, and possessing with intent to distribute Class B controlled substances. 

At the time, he pleaded not guilty in Edgartown district courthouse and was released on a $5,000 cash bail and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.

Mroczkoski’s case was moved up to the Dukes County Superior Courthouse in May and in June he was indicted by a grand jury for his weapon and drug charges.

Although Mroczkoski posted bail, according to superior court dockets, he was still wearing his GPS device and adhering to his curfew conditions when ERO Boston arrested him in Oak Bluffs in September. He has a pretrial conference scheduled for Oct. 24. 

According to ICE, Mroczkoski entered the country near the San Luiz, Arizona border and was released under supervision of ERO in July of 2021. 

Mroczkoski’s arrest follows a number of ICE arrests on the Islands recently. In September, ICE reported the arrest of 24-year-old Brazilian national, Warley Neto, who was charged with five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor; the agency also reported the arrest of two international fugitives on the Vineayrd, whose names were not provided in an announcement. 

On Nantucket, five Salvadoran nationals were arrested in September on various charges including sex crimes and assault and battery.

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74 COMMENTS

  2. He had a large capacity weapon and more than 300 rounds
    of ammunition. I think the maganuts have a little bit of a conundrum
    here– Since the evil government officials were “coming to get him” and his
    gun, do the maganuts think he should have opened fire on them defending
    the right of anyone in this country to own a high powered weapon, or do
    they support the corrupt government “agents” confiscating guns ?
    Be careful with your response, as you may inadvertently advocate for
    gun control laws in violation of 2A — “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. ”
    There is nothing that says citizens of “other ” countries cannot own guns. And keep in mind, that most of the signers of the constitution were “foreigners”. So you either advocate for gun control in this country , or not. I look forward to a rational debate.

    • Nothing to debate. Criminals are precluded from owning firearms. Your argument makes as much sense as saying wood burning wood is a clean and environmentally friendly way to heat your home.

      Please do you research on firearms as well. Please define a large capacity weapon. Lease define a high powered weapon. Clearly you are lacking the knowledge for this debate. Would a 22 caliber rifle with a 15 round magazine meet these definitions?

      • Carl– Nothing in 2A says anything about criminals.
        But I’m sure you know that the Supreme court is hearing
        arguments about ghost guns today. You are a seasoned
        police officer with experience on city streets.
        So I ask– does your disdain for gun regulations
        outweigh any concerns you may have about the safety
        of officers currently on the street?
        I don’t particularly like the idea that some punks in a gang
        can print guns in their crack houses.
        As for what a high capacity gun is–
        I would say anything that can take out 20 kids in
        a school and 5 or 6 responding police officers without
        reloading. Would you agree ? You tell me Carl–
        The article says that the guy that was arrested had at
        least one “large capacity” weapon– the paper doesn’t define it.
        But I would say that if I were involved in a fire fight with someone
        who didn’t have to reload and was taken out along
        with 6 of my fellow officers, I wouldn’t really care about the definition.

        • Don, please… convicted felons lose certain constitutional rights such as voting, serving on a jury, holding certain public office (liberals like that one) and owning firearms.
          And statists are very clear that handguns are used in most mass shootings. And more people are killed with hand and feet than with rifles. FBI Uniform Crime Report will back me up. So no every time I put my uniform on my concern was getting into a firefight with someone with a rifle. Domestic issues were way more concerning. Guns are not the problem. Liberal policies against tough in crime and unwillingness to commit the mentally ill is the problem. And most police officers agree with me.

          • Does your argument apply to semi-automatic weaponry ?
            Confident that mental illness is easily and readily diagnosable ?
            Where would you suggest these persons be committed ? Will they be cured, dischargeable, and safe to return to the streets ?
            Will they be forever denied access to lethal means going forward ?

          • Mike, yes to semi automatic weapons. Mental illness is diagnosable if evaluated by a mental health professional. Have to build suitable facilities. Maybe we can use FEMA money. Proper treatment to include therapy and medication people can live a normal life and not they can never own firearms.

          • Not in every state, Carl…felons who have served their sentence and completed probation or parole can vote in Massachusetts and many other states.

          • Carl– I think you have some facts wrong again.
            There is a rather well know 34 times over convicted
            felon who will vote in Florida next month and hopes
            he can steal enough votes to hold a certain public office.

          • Yes, Jane but the point was convicted felons forfeit some constitutional rights such as owning firearms.

      • Criminals own firearms.
        How do they get them?
        Are they easy to get?
        15 rounds is high capacity weapon.
        223 caliber is is a high powered weapon.

      • Carl, you brought up that convicted felons can’t vote. Will Trump be able to cast a vote in the 2024 election?

    • Don,
      Can you distinguish between an American citizen with all the appropriate (yet un-constitutional, IMO) training and permits for certain firearms and a non-citizen without these burdens? It seems to me you are having a hard time doing so.

      • John– you are talking about legal guns, right ?
        I didn’t know that non citizens could simply skip
        all those “unconstitutional” burdens and buy any gun they
        want and just walk out the door with it just by flashing a
        foreign passport or something.
        I learn something new every day.
        But I wonder, John, does the government buy those guns for them ?
        or do they have to steal the money from sone innocent U.S citizen ?
        But if you are talking about illegally obtained guns, you seem to be
        the one who is having a hard time distinguishing between U.S citizens
        and non citizens obtaining illegal weapons. Do you think that there are
        no U.S citizens that have illegal guns ? Interesting concept.
        By the way, you do know that those drug cartels in Mexico are getting their
        guns from the U.S — Right ?
        In case you don’t — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexican-drug-cartels-american-weapons-smuggled-across-border/

  3. Seriously, now can we start admitting that people are entering this country illegally, coming the MV and commenting serious crimes. For once can liberals admit their social experiment has put our safety in jeopardy and pivot to deport those who are illegally. And thank you MV Times for your reporting on this very important national security issue.

    • Seriously Carl, is the illegal crime rate higher than the citizen crime rate?
      When Trump deports all the illegals will the crime rate go up or down?

      • Albert, when Trump’s numbers are worse than every president in history, he says to stop counting.
        When covid cases were skyrocketing, he said to stop counting.
        When his rally crowds were small, he said to stop counting.
        When he was losing the election, he said to stop counting.

    • Isn’t there a criminal at the top of your ticket ?
      Got any issues/concerns with that ?
      Tax fraud, election insurrection, sexual assault – those are ok, huh ?

  5. This is just the beginning. This is a microcosm of what is happening across the country. We, who love our fair island, cannot keep putting our heads in the sand. The country has been invaded and the Biden/Harris administration has willfully worsened an ongoing crisis. From day one, Biden has pushed an Open Border policy. VP Harris, as Border Czar, was supposed to address this crisis. She failed because she is incompetent and unserious. The impacts of this negligence will take decades to resolve.

    • Peter– she was never appointed the “border czar”
      She was assigned the job of talking to leaders of the countries
      that have the most migrants and attempted to help those countries
      from descending into so much chaos that people were compelled
      to leave. The border czar is just a lie.

      • Don,
        Carmela was indeed in charge of the border, that is, that was her assignment as part of her portfolio as VP. The technical term is not germane. What is germane, however, is how the legacy media which referred to her with that very term scrubbed most of the notations of it from their digital media. Good thing Time Machine still exists.

        • John Budris: I’m sure you did that deliberately, but the name of the Vice President is Kamala, not Carmela, and the accent is on the first syllable. If you did that deliberately, grow up. If you didn’t, speak to your spell check.

          • Sara, are you this indignant when people purposely slander Trumps name? There are countless comments on this thread that bare this.

      • Not so. Biden assigned her the job and she proved she’s in over her head. The worst vp in modern history!

      • It’s ironic since the biden administration pushed an open borders policy from day one. So…kamala was never gonna do anything to protect our borders. Another lie committed by this feckless administration

        • Peter, just because Trump said it doesn’t make it true. Please find another source of information, whatever you are exposed to is filled with lies.

        • Trump did not close the border.
          It will never be closed.
          Too much money flows back and forth.
          Too many Americans would be unemployed.
          Don’t be a simpleton.

    • Studies have consistently shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or be incarcerated than native-born Americans.

      The 1.1 million deportations since the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2021 through February 2024 (the most recent data available) are on pace to match the 1.5 million deportations carried out during the four years President Donald Trump was in office.

      And yet…..No matter the facts. No matter that immigraton reform is the responsibilty of Congress, not some “border czar”…. It is a complicated problem that will not be solved by ignoring facts and demonizing immigrants.

  7. At no point did Harris deny that she was leading the responsibility for the border and Biden told us she was leading the effort. No matter how you downplay it. Harris was responsible for the Border and even told so to Lester Holt when he challenged her as to why she hasnt been to the border, she said I havent been to Europe either what is your point. If Harris was a Republican, Keller would be all over her like a cheap suit. At least have the integrity to state she is a hologram, manipulated by Jarret, Rice, Obama, Plouffe and until recently Anita Dunn. Every one knows, even Dems know she was given the responsibility for managing the Border crisis and her response was to claim ”root causes” Everyone knows root causes from third world countries ( am I allowed to say that?)

    • Andrew, just more racist rhetoric.
      You have told us that your career took you to dark places that needed powerful guns for protection.
      Maybe the industry that you worked in created the darkness that you fear.

    • VP is a meaningless job
      Ask Mike Pence.
      You have to do exactly what the President tells you to do or you will be threatened with hanging by his goons.

    • Harris did co-sponsor a comprehensive immigration bill with a very conservative member of House of Representatives. It passed both the Senate and House by wide margins – a truly bipartisan bill.

      Trump vetoed it.

    • andy– of course we can talk about the root causes of
      all sorts of things. I can even sit here and blame right handed
      Estonian immigrants for poisoning our children in the
      name of the almighty dollar. I don’t need any facts.
      Even if not a single right handed Estonian immigrant ever poisoned
      even one child, I am free to say it.
      Here– let me exercise my constitutional right;
      They’re poisoning the little boys– they’re poisoning the
      little girls— They’re poisoning the babies of the people who live there.

  8. Stories like this are perfect for demonstrating the MV Times continued double standards when it comes to their policy on what comments are acceptable. Lies about gov’t policy? Acceptable. Reinforcing racist lies about things such as replacement theory? Also acceptable. Pointing out another commenter’s racism when stating these ideas? Unacceptable. Pointing out another commenter’s constant needless opining on every story? Also unacceptable. Makes me wonder about the broadness of the editorial staff’s worldview.

    • Why would would anyone point another commenters opinions, You should have your own.
      Who gets to decide what is acceptable?
      You must be new here, the MVT world view is on the liberal side of center, always has been, just like the Gazette and the supermajority of the Island.
      Read the articles.

  9. Peter, when we compare Harris and Trump, there are many examples to choose from: Trump violently attacked a woman in a store and shoved her against a wall, banging her head.
    Harris spent many hours negotiating with other countries to find ways to stabilize local governments and economies to discourage emigration.
    When I highlight these two examples, I’m hoping for you to see what I see: Harris is worthy of the role of President of the United States and, in my opinion, Trump is not.

  10. The interviewer on 60 minutes hit the nail on the head, border crossings have quadrupled and Kamala Harris said a lot of excuses and political gibberish when asked if the policies of the last four years were a mistake
    All the news reports talk about how everyone is asking ” how could this happen here
    Like Peter is saying, this is just a microcosm
    I say since the big cities have to deal with it , isn’t spillover to the vineyard the definition of “equity?

    • 2024 has had fewer border crossing than 2020.
      The microcosm is that America has always welcomed immigrants.
      Until they started eating our pets . . .

  11. Don, you certainly are correct about VP Harris’ assignment, but why do you bait people of differing views into argument?

    • Michael, it is important to point out the lies that people tell in public.
      The republicans have been working for 70 years to dominate the airwaves so they could spread misinformation and lies.
      Many people get their sole source of “news” from Joe Rogan, his guests and people like him, such as Tucker Carlson (I heard Tucker Carlson give a disclaimer on his show a few years ago that his show was not news, it was entertainment, and he had no obligation to tell the truth).

    • Michael– I am interested in honest debate. Calling out liars is
      not baiting in my opinion. I think people who say things like
      the border is open, or claim that Kamala is the “border czar”
      or Haitians are eating pets
      or any variety of untrue things are baiting.
      I often take the bait, I guess. I think they do also.
      But why don’t you ask that baiting question to those
      who openly lie?

  12. Just wondering: Are the hurricane victims getting free hotel rooms, phones, and loaded debit cards?

    • Joseph, immigrants come to the US. Sometimes they need assistance for a short period of time. Sometimes immigrants don’t need any assistance whatsoever. One of my friends came to the US as a refugee with a Masters degree in Mathematics, but because she couldn’t speak English at first and she had dark hair, some people actually spat on her. Too much racism, whether people recognize it or not.

    • And new roofs, and internet service, in addition to hotel rooms, phones and loaded debit cards, not mention paper towels.

    • All hurricane victims are receiving aid from FEMA and NGO’s like the Red Cross. Fema is fully funded, btw.

    • Joseph–You can stop your “wondering” now.
      Since you didn’t bother to check about ANY of the things
      you were wondering about, I did– please excuse me for once again
      providing factual information with my “hi mom” links
      to verifiable information.
      I wonder what you consider to be a “loaded”
      debit card ? Do you know the value of the card the migrants are
      getting ? Maybe $750 ? maybe it varies ?
      Here– ” So, a family of four with two 10-year-olds would receive $1,267 for the program’s entirety.” Note the word “entirety” Interesting that i pulled that out, Huh…?
      https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/oct/11/facebook-posts/no-migrants-dont-receive-3500-debit-cards/

      And since you were wondering about the phones , I hope you will also look at this link —
      It is about the capabilities of the phones that
      migrants are getting, and why they have them. These are the same phones,
      with the same capabilities that
      migrants have been getting since 2018. —
      Just in case you think I mistyped about that date- 2018–
      How about that ?
      That was back when Mike Pence was the “border czar”, I think.
      https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-immigrant-phone-internet-texting-521577996794

      And then —here is an excerpt from my next effort to get the
      attention of my mother who died 13 years ago about your wondering
      about free hotel rooms:
      “Residents in declared counties who have applied for disaster assistance
      may be eligible to stay temporarily in a hotel or motel paid for by FEMA
      while they work on their long-term housing plan. People do not need to
      request this assistance. FEMA will notify them of their eligibility through
      an automated phone call, text message and/or email, depending upon
      the method of communication they selected at the time of application
      for disaster assistance. ” Oh, excuse me again for posting the source of
      this quote–
      https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20241009/federal-assistance-hurricane-helene-exceeds-344-million-fema-expands-dual#:~:text=Residents%20in%20declared%20counties%20who,need%20to%20request%20this%20assistance.
      I hope this calms your nerves and you can sleep better tonight knowing
      that U.S citizens who are the victims of unprecedented disasters that happen
      “all the time” are being cared for as well as possible
      by the Biden/Harris administration .
      And let me give a shout out
      to the Vineyard community and the dedicated volunteers who are mounting
      and executing an extraordinary effort to help the victims of the recent storms
      in the south.

      But really, Joseph, you can find out all this stuff yourself.
      If you depend on me, I’m gonna just give you “liberal facts”.
      Perhaps you could pre empt me by citing “alternative facts”.
      That’s how debates work, you know.
      Is there anything else I can help you with ?
      Respect.

  13. Immigration is a problem. What gets me is even before Biden was elected, republicans were screaming from the rooftops that the borders would be wide open with Democratic leadership.
    After Biden was elected republicans used megaphones to scream from the rooftops that the borders were wide open. Ya think any and all impoverished Mexican, central American, or South Americans didn’t heed the call to think maybe is a good time to go through the door and chase the American dream?
    I feel Republicans created the border crisis. Our laws governing border policies haven’t changed. There are laws allowing for entry for political prosecutions and such and laws were followed. Its what America was built on.
    Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    I think a majority of Americans can agree that this is unsustainable .
    What America needs is new border policies, new laws governing who can enter and laws on how to deal with those who did ener illegally.
    Democrats are a little (lot) too soft on illegal aliens, Giving them drivers licenses, not deporting when picked up on crime, no being able to even ask if they are here illegally.
    And republicans seems to want a zero policy on anyone who’s skin isn’t lilly white to enter the United States.
    The American economy only thrives with growth.
    Our birth rate and death rate is pretty equal, ( I’m guessing ) and we need immigrants to sustain growth, we need workers to do the work that our aging and generation z are too old or to pampered to do.
    We need Congress to work out a bipartisan compromise to fix our borders, and only one side is willing, ready, and able to do that. And we all know which political party that is

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