NEW YORK — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 206 individuals during a week-long enhanced enforcement operation in the New York City area, focusing on illegal aliens with serious criminal histories, ICE announced Thursday.
The operation, which ran April 6–12, involved ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and federal partners including the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices from the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
“New York is much safer today because of the hard work of ICE and our law enforcement partners,” said acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons. “Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in and around the city.”
According to ICE, the arrests included members of violent transnational gangs such as MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Sureños, and 18th Street. Of the 206 arrested, 121 had criminal convictions or pending charges for crimes including homicide, sexual assault, drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and arson. One individual was a foreign fugitive and another had a homicide conviction in the Philippines.
ICE Acting Field Office Director Judith Almodovar said, “The majority of the aliens arrested have egregious criminal histories to include manslaughter, rape, assault, drug trafficking and sex assault against minors.”
Gang members and sex offenders among those arrested
Among those arrested was Camilo Cesar Gonzales-Encalada, 23, a Spanish national and Sureños gang member, convicted of assault and drug and firearms offenses. He was arrested April 6.
Also detained was Alexander Steven Jimbo-Perez, 25, of Ecuador, arrested the same day. His record includes charges of assault with intent to cause injury and endangering a child.
ICE apprehended Derrick Alphonso Roberts, 60, of Jamaica, on April 7. His criminal history spans multiple convictions, including manslaughter, firearms offenses, and drug trafficking.
Luis Olmedo Quishpi-Poalasin, 35, from Ecuador, was arrested April 7. He has been convicted of several sex crimes, including rape by forcible compulsion and sexual abuse of an individual incapable of consent, as well as arrests for witness tampering and aggravated harassment.
Another arrest included Edimar Alejandra Colmenares Mendoza, 22, a Venezuelan national and alleged member of Tren de Aragua, apprehended April 8. She faces charges for conspiracy, larceny, and possession of stolen property.
Key Points
- ICE arrested 206 individuals, including gang members and sex offenders, in a week-long New York City enforcement effort.
- 121 of those arrested had serious criminal records or pending charges, including homicide, rape, and drug trafficking.
- The operation involved cooperation with multiple federal law enforcement agencies and targeted neighborhoods across NYC, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley.
On April 9, ICE arrested Modesto Arias-Soto, 35, a Dominican national with a conviction for narcotics conspiracy and an arrest for tampering with public records. That same day, they detained Marcos Tul-Guallpa, 39, of Guatemala, who has a conviction for endangering a child and a sex abuse arrest.
On April 10, Jhonny Morocho-Veletanga, 32, of Ecuador, was taken into custody. He was previously convicted of injuring a bystander during a felony assault.
The arrests continued through April 11, when ICE officers apprehended multiple offenders. These included Will Alexander Ordonez, 48, of Honduras, convicted of arson and drug offenses; Jaime Gustavo Quizpi-Romero, 51, of Ecuador, with assault and strangulation charges; Adnan Paulino-Flores, 58, of Mexico, with sexual abuse charges pending; and Jose Felix Ortiz-Martinez, 49, also of Mexico, with assault convictions.
ICE emphasized that many of those arrested had been released from custody by local jurisdictions that declined to honor immigration detainers.
New York City neighborhoods see violent offender sweep in ICE-led crackdown.