Two Salvadoran criminal fugitives recently captured in northern California – one wanted for murder, the other for weapons trafficking – were handed over to authorities in their native country Wednesday, October 10, 2012, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the latest results of stepped up collaborative efforts to locate Salvadoran criminal fugitives in the U.S. and return them to El Salvador to face justice.
Josue Alfredo Melendez-Martinez, 34, and Manuel De Jesus Serpas Hernandez, 34, were repatriated to El Salvador on board a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, ERO officers turned the suspects over to awaiting officials from the El Salvadoran Civilian National Police (PNC). The two former fugitives were both located following encounters with local law enforcement authorities in northern California.
Melendez-Martinez is wanted on a criminal warrant issued in 2006 in El Salvador for trafficking and possession of firearms. The documented member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13) gang is also facing charges in his native country for his alleged involvement in the killing of a police officer. ERO took Melendez-Martinez into custody in August 2012 after receiving a lead from Stanislaus County probation officers. He was detained by ERO and ordered deported by an immigration judge Aug. 28.
The second fugitive, Serpas Hernandez, is the subject of a Salvadoran criminal warrant charging him with murder and "serious wounding." According to an Interpol Red Notice, the suspect allegedly fatally shot his former girlfriend and seriously wounded her friend following an argument in Usulutan, El Salvador, in 1999.
In December 2011, an ERO Los Angeles officer who had been searching for Serpas Hernandez for more than a year discovered he was incarcerated at the San Francisco County Jail on local charges. ERO lodged an immigration hold on Serpas Hernandez and he came into ICE custody in March 2012 after serving his sentence for child endangerment. On Aug. 21, an immigration judge ordered Serpas Hernandez deported, paving the way for his repatriation to El Salvador.
"Criminals who seek to escape responsibility for their actions by fleeing to the United States will find no sanctuary in our communities," said Gary Mead, executive associate director of ERO. "As this case makes clear, ICE is working closely with its foreign counterparts to promote public safety and hold criminals accountable – no matter where they commit their crimes."
Officials point to the deportation of the two high-profile criminal fugitives as yet another benefit of the expanded cooperation between ICE and authorities in El Salvador to identify, arrest and repatriate Salvadoran criminal suspects who have fled to the U.S. to avoid prosecution.
ICE officers are working closely with the PNC, the Salvadoran National Interpol Office and Salvadoran Immigration as part of this effort. As a result, in fiscal year 2012, the PNC was able to execute more than 130 criminal arrest warrants immediately upon fugitives' return to El Salvador aboard IAO removal flights. More than a fourth of those arrests involved homicide-related charges.
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 500 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with ICE's Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.
An El Salvador man, wanted in his country for murder, organized crime and extortion, was deported and turned over to officials of El Salvador Friday, Sept. 28 by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Walter Fernando Alfaro-Pineda, 33, was encountered by officers assigned to the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) at the Lee County Jail in Texas, after an Interpol fugitive warrant was revealed following his arrest June 18. The warrant indicated that Alfaro-Pineda was wanted by El Salvadoran officials for murder, organized crime and extortion. Alfaro-Pineda was released into ERO custody June 20, and subsequently ordered removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge Sept. 5.
"This removal is the positive result of ICE's thorough screening of jails and prisons throughout the nation," said David W. Jennings, field office director for ERO Houston. "This case is representative of the hard work and service by ERO and our law enforcement partners to ensure public safety."
ERO is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ERO also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or those criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally reentered the country.
This international fugitive was removed on a charter flight via the ICE ERO Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Since 2006, the IAO Unit, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., has supported ERO by providing mass air transportation and removal coordination services to ERO field offices nationwide. Staffed by ERO officers, these air charters enable the agency to repatriate large groups of deportees in an efficient, expeditious and humane manner.
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 500 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with ICE's Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.
Through CAP, ERO seeks to identify potentially deportable aliens incarcerated in jails and prisons throughout the United States. This is accomplished through interviews and reviews of inmates's biographical information. Although ERO initiates removal proceedings against criminal aliens through CAP, these individuals may remain in prison or jail to complete criminal hearings or sentences. Under CAP, ERO uses a risk-based approach to make determinations about the detention and arrest of criminal aliens, with priority given to cases involving individuals deemed to be a security or public safety threat.
A Ukrainian man was sentenced Monday, July 16, 2012, to life in prison for operating a human trafficking organization which smuggled young Ukrainian immigrants into the United States and forced them to work for little or no pay. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of the Joint FBI Organized Crime/ICE Human Trafficking Alien Smuggling Federal Task Force.
Omelyan Botsvynyuk, 52, a Ukrainian national, was sentenced by U.S District Judge Paul S. Diamond. Omelyan and his brother, Stephan, 38, were convicted October 12, 2011 of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Omelyan was also convicted of extortion.
"The sentence handed down today sends a clear message to those who are involved in human trafficking," said Special Agent-in-Charge John P. Kelleghan, of Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia. "HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who commit these heinous crimes are held accountable for their actions."
According to court records, between 2000 and 2007, the Botsvynyuks conspired to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity by operating their human trafficking organization. Three other brothers were also indicted in the scheme: Mykhaylo and Dmytro Botsvynyuk are awaiting extradition from Canada; Yaroslav Botsvynyuk is currently a fugitive.
The brothers operated cleaning services with workers who were smuggled into the U.S. from Ukraine and kept in conditions of peonage and forced labor, through physical violence and threats of physical violence. Evidence presented at trial showed the brothers recruited workers from Ukraine, promising them good jobs making $500 per month and another $200 or $300 extra for expenses. The workers were told that room and board would be provided to them and that the defendants would handle all of the travel expenses with each worker expected to earn $10,000 after two or three years of working in the U.S. Rather than arranging for the workers to travel to the United States legally, however, the brothers had obtained only tourist visas to Mexico. Once in Mexico, the Botsvynyuk organization had operatives who coached the workers on how to enter the United States illegally, by wearing American-style clothing and stating "U.S." at the Mexican/United States border.
While some of the workers entered the United States, others were taken into custody by U.S. immigration officials, where they remained for almost two months. Once released and provided with immigration documents and summonses to appear for immigration hearings, the Botsvynyuk organization transported them to Philadelphia, either by bus or by plane. Once in Philadelphia, the immigration documents and return court dates were confiscated from the workers. The workers were put to work cleaning large chain stores at night, such as Target and Wal-Mart, as well as smaller stores.
Throughout their employment with the brothers, the workers lived up to five people in one room, slept on dirty mattresses on the floor, and were never paid. They were told that they had to work for the brothers until their debts, ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, were paid.
The brothers used physical force, threats of force, sexual assault and debt bondage to keep the victims in involuntary servitude. The brothers also threatened violence to workers' families still residing in Ukraine. Two female workers testified at trial that Omelyan Botsvynyuk brutally raped them on several occasions. Other victims testified at trial that they were struck and beaten if they attempted to quit or leave the employ of the Botsvynyuk brothers, or if they questioned the lack of payment or the broken promises made in Ukraine. Workers were struck in the presence of other workers, which served as a warning to the rest. After some workers escaped, Omelyan Botsvynyuk resorted to extorting the workers' families in Ukraine, threatening them with mutilation, rape and death if the workers did not return to work or pay their debts.
The Pennsylvania State Police, Philadelphia Police Department, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Toronto Police Department, German National Police, Berlin State Police, Ukraine Security Service, U.S. National Central Bureau, the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and INTERPOL assisted in the investigation.
