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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal and Texas officials carried out a massive 10-day operation in Houston that resulted in over 1,500 arrests, including of aggravated felons, gang members, sexual predators, a murderer and others.
In a Wednesday statement, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office Director Bret Bradford announced that “despite the conditions becoming increasingly dangerous for our officers as a result of the spread of violent political rhetoric and intentionally false information,” agents arrested 1,505 illegal aliens in a southeast Texas operation that ran Oct. 22-31.
Bradford said the arrests of gang members, child predators and other violent criminals “prevented countless Houstonians from having to suffer from the nightmares and PTSD that come with being a victim of violent crime.”
These arrests came after another ICE Houston operation in August resulted in 822 arrests and another in February and March that led to 543 arrests.
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In total, the October operation resulted in the arrests of 17 documented gang members, 40 aggravated felons, one convicted murderer and 13 sexual predators, according to the ICE statement. Offenses committed by those arrested included 115 aggravated assaults, 142 DWIs, 55 drug offenses and 31 weapons offenses. The agency also said that 255 of those arrested had been previously deported from the U.S. at least once.
Nearly one-third of those arrested have been ordered removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge, according to ICE.
The agency highlighted some of the worst of the worst offenders nabbed in the operation, which included Selvin Joel Lara Diaz, a 35-year-old previously deported child predator and Mexican mafia member. According to ICE, Lara Diaz was convicted of raping and impregnating his own minor sister. He was arrested hiding in the shelves of a Houston-area grocery store.
Another, Marlon Odir Gomez Hernandez, a 29-year-old suspected MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, had previously been arrested in his home country for aggravated extortion. ICE officials chased Gomez Hernandez into a washateria where he climbed through the ceiling panels and became wedged in a sign on the side of the building, according to the agency.
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Marlon Odir Gomez Hernandez, a 29-year-old suspected MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, attempted to escape ICE officials by running into a washateria where he climbed through the ceiling panels and became wedged in a sign on the side of the building, according to the agency. (ICE)
A third, Rony Andy Martinez Lopez, 27, from Honduras, was arrested during the operation after being previously deported and convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and cruelty towards a child.
Vongphachan Phothisome, a 53-year-old from Laos, was also arrested and has been convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Salvador Ramirez-Carrillo, a 46-year-old from Mexico, had previously been deported four times. He is a member of the Paisas gang and has been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest with a vehicle.
Another, Rey David Bautista-Antonio, a 27-year-old also from Mexico, was arrested and has been convicted of three DWIs.
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Left to right from top: Selvin Joel Lara Diaz, Salvador Ramirez Carrillo, Rony Andy Martinez Lopez, Vongphachan Phothisome, Rey David Bautista Antonio. (ICE)
Bradford said that thanks to the “unwavering commitment” of the ICE agents to “defend this community from foreign criminal invaders and other illegal aliens who undermine our rule of law, a previously deported Mexican Mafia gang member convicted of raping and impregnating his underage sister who is also wanted in Mexico for murder is no longer free; A four-time deported Paisas gang member arrested for DWI and convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest with a vehicle is no longer beating up law-abiding Americans or driving intoxicated on our roadways; and five other criminal alien child predators are no longer free in the community preying on innocent children.”
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“While it’s impossible to put a measure on the crimes that will never happen as a result of their efforts during this operation, I can tell you with certainty that they’ve saved lives and prevented countless Houstonians from having to suffer from the nightmares and PTSD that come with being a victim of violent crime,” said Bradford.
