Five Chilean citizens accused of burglarizing a Baltimore County, Maryland, residence last month and being linked to crimes in other states were all in the country illegally, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ICE).
On February 3, 2024, the Baltimore County Police Department arrested Gabriel Matamala-Ponce, 20; Tomás Crisosto Araya, 21 years old; Jorge Gatica Vergara, 22 years old; Luis Oyanedel Valenzuela, 23 years old; and Gabriel Miranda-Gonzalez, 27, and charged them with attempted first-degree robbery and several other crimes related to the robbery.
Officers were called to the 2300 block of Tufton Springs Lane around 6:45 p.m. that day for a robbery in progress, and quickly located the suspects fleeing the scene in a vehicle, before stopping and taking them into custody.
A follow-up investigation found that the five suspects were possibly connected to four other robberies in the county, as well as crimes in North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma. They were also allegedly part of a robbery ring out of South America.
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Police in Baltimore County, Maryland, arrested five men suspected of being part of a South American robbery group. (Baltimore County Police Twitter)
ICE told Fox News Digital that Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Baltimore had filed immigration detainers against the five individuals.
“ERO Baltimore is closely monitoring the five individuals Baltimore County Police arrested on February 3 on robbery charges,” said ERO Baltimore spokesman James Covington. “The five individuals are of Chilean nationality.”
ICE said Crisosto-Araya, Gatica-Vergara, Miranda-González and Oyanedel-Valenzuela entered the country legally as nonimmigrants, but did not leave in accordance with the terms of their admission.
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June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct a law enforcement operation in the interior of the United States. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
The fifth individual, Matamala-Ponce, entered the United States illegally without being admitted by a U.S. immigration official, ICE said.
All five are also linked to crimes in other states.
The Orange County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office issued arrest warrants for Crisosto-Araya, Gatica-Vergara, Oyanedel-Valenzuela and Matamala-Ponce on February 28, 2024 for forced entry into a residence with burglary.
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Miranda-González was arrested by the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office on February 22, 2022 and charged with petit retail theft and paid a fine for the offense on April 22, 2022.
All five are being held in Baltimore County on an immigration detainer.
Arrest warrants are filed against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity.
Under the detainer, ICE asks state and local law enforcement agencies to notify them as soon as possible before releasing a noncitizen from their custody.
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The detention orders suspend the release of noncitizens for no more than 48 hours beyond the time they would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for deportation purposes.
