Immigration officers arrest 87 in Las Vegas, Reno areas

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Monday, May 16, 2016 | 1:49 p.m.

Convicted drug traffickers and street gang members were among 87 foreign nationals arrested in the Reno and Las Vegas areas last week during an operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeting at-large criminal aliens, officials said.

The five-day operation last week focused on people who posed a public safety threat, ICE officials said in a news release.

Officers arrested 65 people in and around Las Vegas and 22 in Reno, officials said. Of those arrested, 20 had prior felony convictions and two were members of violent street gangs, officials said.

Their criminal histories included drug trafficking, weapons violations, child sex offenses and domestic violence, officials said. Four face federal prosecution on counts of re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Among those arrested in the Las Vegas area were:

• A previously deported 55-year-old Mexican national with a felony conviction for transporting and selling heroin.

• A 57-year-old Mexican national convicted of lewdness with a child under 14 that resulted in a four-to-10-year prison sentence.

• A 42-year-old Salvadoran national with multiple prior felony convictions, including one for statutory sexual seduction.

“This operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to targeting convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” said Daniel Bible, the field office director for enforcement and removal operations in Salt Lake City, which oversees the agency’s enforcement actions in Nevada.

Those arrested included citizens of nine countries, with most — 65 — from Mexico. The others were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Philippines Cuba, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Those not criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States, officials said.

People with outstanding deportation orders or who returned to the U.S. illegally after being deported are subject to immediate removal from the country, officials said.

All of those apprehended were immigration enforcement priorities as outlined by the Department of Homeland Security, and more than 85 percent were Priority 1 or Priority 2 cases, officials said.

Priority 1 targets include threats to national security, gang members, convicted felons and aggravated felons. Priority 2 targets include people with convictions for three or more misdemeanors or convictions for significant misdemeanors, including DUIs, officials said.