U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it has captured a Colombian gang leader wanted for homicide, aggravated robbery and weapons trafficking in his home country, who was illegally in the United States.
ICE said the Colombian fugitive is a validated leader of the Las Colinas criminal organization based in Santa Marta, Colombia.
The 29-year-old man was captured by Border Patrol in September 2023 after illegally crossing into the United States near San Ysidro, California. He was served with a summons to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.
He was then transferred to the San Diego Enforcement and Removal Operations Office (ERO). Inexplicably, the gang leader was granted a parole order and released from custody, ICE said.
SCARED REPORT REVEALS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION HAS RELEASED DOZENS OF MIGRANTS ON US TERRORIST WATCH LIST
ERO Baltimore arrests Colombian gang leader wanted for murder, weapons trafficking and aggravated robbery. (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
He was allowed to roam freely in the US for nearly a year before ERO Baltimore arrested him in Maryland last week.
“This Colombian fugitive is wanted by authorities in his home country for committing violent crimes,” said Vernon Liggins, Acting Deputy Field Office Director for ERO Baltimore. “He attempted to hide from justice in Maryland and we simply cannot allow that to happen. Our officers are the best in the world at finding people who don't want to be found and we will not allow our Maryland communities to become safe havens for the world's bad actors. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending the most egregious foreign criminals.”
His arrest comes at a time when significant problems with vetting at the southern border and issues within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a whole continue to plague the organization.
AUTHORITIES ARREST 8 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS WITH LINKS TO ISIS IN UNDERCOVER OPERATION IN MULTIPLE CITIES
A scathing new report from the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee reveals that the Biden-Harris administration has released dozens of migrants on terror watch lists in the United States.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, of the more than 250 illegal aliens on the terrorist watch list encountered by Border Patrol at the Southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS has released at least 99 into American communities, and at least 34 others are in DHS custody but have not yet been removed from the United States,” says the report by House Judiciary Committee Republicans, a copy of which was first obtained by Fox News Digital.
“That does not include the untold number of potential terrorists who evaded Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of nearly 2 million 'escapes' since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration,” the report said.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF RAPE OF 13-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK GIRL, PREVIOUSLY CAPTURED BY BORDER PATROL, RELEASED IN U.S.
A Colombian fugitive wanted by authorities for numerous violent crimes in his home country is detained by ICE. (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
The report, which cites information provided to committee staff in June, also found that Border Patrol had found immigrants on the terrorist watch lists of 36 different countries.
DHS has also identified more than 400 individuals brought to the United States from countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by an ISIS-affiliated smuggling network in recent months.
In June, federal authorities in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia arrested eight Tajik nationals with ties to ISIS. All eight had entered illegally via the southern border, but no negative information was detected during the process, sources told Fox News.
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“As national security experts and immigration officials become increasingly concerned about the threat of terrorism originating at the border, it is clear that policymakers must take all necessary steps to secure the border and stem the flow of illegal immigrants. Yet the Biden-Harris administration has refused to address the national security nightmare created by its radical open borders agenda,” the staff report reads.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
