U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that they had captured a Colombian gang leader wanted in his country for homicide and aggravated theft as well as arms trafficking. He was illegally present in the U.S.
ICE stated that the Colombian fugitive was a leader of Las Colinas, a criminal organization based out of Santa Marta in Colombia.
Border Patrol caught the 29-year-old in September 2023 after he illegally crossed into the U.S., near San Ysidro California. The notice was sent to him that he would be appearing before an immigration judge at the Department of Justice.
The gang leader was transferred to Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego. ICE reported that the gang leader received an unjustified order of release and was released from custody.
He had been allowed to roam free in the U.S. for nearly a full year before ERO Baltimore stopped him last week in Maryland.
Vernon Liggins, acting deputy director of the ERO Baltimore Field Office, said: “This Colombian fleeing criminal is wanted by authorities back home for allegedly committing violent crimes.” “He tried to escape justice in Maryland and we cannot allow this to happen. We will not let our Maryland communities become safe havens to the bad actors of the world. Our officers are among the best in finding people who do not want to be located. ERO Baltimore continues to prioritize public safety by apprehending non-citizen criminals.”
NEW: ICE says a validated leader of a Colombian gang who is wanted for homicide and arms trafficking in Colombia was caught by Border Patrol near San Ysidro, CA in September, but was released into the US by the Feds. ICE Baltimore found & arrested him in College Park, MD on Weds.… pic.twitter.com/qObxf7h2TH
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 5, 2024
The arrest of this man comes at a time when the Department of Homeland Security is still plagued by problems, both with the vetting of immigrants at the southern border and the Department of Homeland Security as a whole.
The House Judiciary Committee Republicans have released a new report that is scathing, revealing the Biden-Harris Administration has allowed dozens of migrants who were on terror watch lists to enter the U.S.
The report of the House Judiciary Committee by Republicans states that “Under the Biden and Harris Administration, DHS released at least 99 illegal aliens who were on the terrorist watchlist but had been encountered by Border Patrol on the Southwest border between fiscal years 2020 and 2023. At least 34 other illegal aliens are still in DHS custody, but have not yet been removed from the United States.”
The report states that “This does not include the unknown numbers of potential terrorists who evaded Border Patrol and entered the United States in part of nearly two million “getaways”, since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
In the report, which cites information given to staff of the committee in June, it is also revealed that Border Patrol encountered migrants from 36 different countries on the terror watchlist.
DHS also identified 400 people brought into the U.S. by a smuggling ring affiliated with ISIS in the last few months from Eastern European and Central Asian nations.
In June, federal authorities arrested eight Tajikistani nationals who had ties to ISIS in New York City Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Sources claim that all eight Tajik nationals entered illegally through the southern border, but there was no information flagged by federal authorities during processing.
The threat of terrorism coming from the border is a growing concern for national security experts, and immigration officials must take the necessary steps to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. The staff interim report stated that the Biden-Harris administration has refused to address national security issues created by their radical open-borders policy.
