HOUSTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Houston field office announced it arrested 277 people over a two-week period in April who the agency says were in the country without legal authorization and had prior criminal convictions.
According to ICE, the arrests took place between April 6 and April 17 and involved individuals with a combined 751 criminal convictions. The agency also reported that those arrested had previously entered the United States illegally a total of 654 times.
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ICE said the group included individuals with convictions for a range of offenses, including child sex crimes, homicide-related offenses, robbery, drug trafficking and assault. Among those arrested, the agency reported 17 people with child sex offense convictions, six with homicide-related convictions and 16 with drug trafficking convictions. The agency also identified 15 people as gang members or associates and said two of those arrested were foreign fugitives wanted for murder in other countries.
Additional convictions listed by ICE included 156 for driving while intoxicated, 108 for drug possession, 74 for assault-related offenses and 67 for robbery-related crimes such as burglary and theft. The agency also reported convictions for offenses including resisting arrest, fraud, weapons violations and hit-and-run.
ICE released the names and details of several individuals arrested during the operation. Those include:
- Haydee Mercado-Rodriguez, 34, of El Salvador, identified by ICE as an MS-13 gang member and foreign fugitive convicted in her home country of homicide-related and other offenses. ICE said she was arrested April 9 and remains in custody pending removal.
- Minh Duy Tong Nguyen, 54, of Vietnam, who ICE said was convicted of murder in Houston in 1991 and had a longstanding removal order. He was arrested April 16 and remains in custody pending removal.
- Carlos Carmona-Palomo, 29, of Mexico, identified as a foreign fugitive wanted for homicide. ICE said he was arrested April 6 and deported April 21.
- Luis Hernandez Martinez, 48, of Mexico, who ICE said was convicted of murder in Upshur County, Texas. He was arrested April 9 and deported April 11.
- Leobardo Nieves-Vasquez, 35, of Mexico, who ICE said was convicted of intoxication manslaughter in Angelina County, Texas. He was arrested April 7 and deported April 9.
ICE also listed multiple individuals with convictions for sexual offenses involving minors, including Pedro Joel Martinez, 52, of El Salvador; Antonio Martinez Campos, 53, of Mexico; Eric Eusevio Cortez, 44, of Mexico; and Manuel Navarrete-Arellano, 43, of Mexico. The agency said several of those individuals have been deported, while others remain in custody pending removal proceedings.
Additional individuals identified by ICE include Jose Ricardo Ortiz, 36, of Mexico; Yeslin Orellana Manchame, 30, of Honduras; Jose Lovo, 44, of El Salvador; Filiberto Aleman Sanchez, 55, of Mexico; and Luis Hernan Montesdeoca-Yunga, 28, of Ecuador, all of whom ICE said had prior convictions for sexual offenses involving minors.
ICE also named several individuals with prior convictions related to drug offenses, immigration violations or other crimes, including Jose De Luna Perez, 44, of Mexico; Brian Rivera Santoyo, 22, of Mexico; Heros Cantu, 33, of Mexico; Jose Artemio Sanchez-Garcia, 61, of Mexico; Juan Gilberto Morales Mora, 24, of Mexico; Brandon Hernandez Torres, 23, of Mexico; Antonio Garcia-Perez, 32, of Mexico; and Cristian Muratalla Rodriguez, 29, of Mexico.
ICE officials said the operation was conducted with assistance from federal, state and local law enforcement partners across Southeast Texas.
The Houston field office oversees immigration enforcement across 58 counties, including areas along the Gulf Coast and inland regions stretching from Beaumont to Corpus Christi and west toward Waco.