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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal and Texas officials conducted a massive 10-day operation in Houston, arresting more than 1,500 people, including felons, gang members, sex offenders and murderers.
In a statement Wednesday, Brett Bradford, director of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office, announced that agents arrested 1,505 illegal aliens in the southeast Texas operation that ran from Oct. 22 to 31 “despite the situation becoming increasingly dangerous due to violent political rhetoric and the spread of intentional disinformation.”
Bradford said the arrests of gang members, child predators and other violent criminals “have prevented countless Houstonians from becoming victims of violent crime and suffering nightmares and PTSD.”
These arrests follow another ICE Houston operation in August that resulted in 822 arrests, and 543 arrests in February and March.
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The October operation resulted in the arrests of a total of 17 gang members, 40 aggravated felons, one convicted murderer and 13 sex offenders, according to an ICE statement. Crimes committed by those arrested included 115 aggravated assaults, 142 drunk driving offenses, 55 drug offenses and 31 weapons offenses. It also said 255 of those arrested had been deported from the United States at least once before.
According to ICE, nearly one-third of those arrested were ordered removed from the United States by an immigration judge.
The agency highlighted some of the worst offenders caught in the operation, including Selvin Joel Lara Diaz, 35, a previously deported child molester and member of the Mexican Mafia. Lara Diaz was found guilty of raping and impregnating her own sister, according to ICE. He was arrested while hiding in the shelves of a Houston-area grocery store.
Another suspected MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, 29-year-old Marlon Odir Gomez Hernandez, had previously been arrested in his home country on charges of aggravated extortion. ICE officials chased Gomez Hernández to a laundromat, where he climbed through a ceiling panel and stuck into a sign on the side of the building, ICE said.
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Marlon Odir Gomez Hernández, 29, a suspected MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, attempted to escape from ICE officials when he ran into a laundromat, climbed a ceiling panel and stuck into a sign on the side of the building, ICE said. (ice)
The third, Rony Andy Martinez Lopez, 27, of Honduras, was arrested during the operation after previously being deported and convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and child abuse.
Bongpachan Potisome, 53, from Laos, was also arrested and found guilty on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Salvador Ramirez-Carrillo, 46, from Mexico, has been deported four times before. As a member of the Paisas gang, he was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest by using a vehicle.
Another man from Mexico, 27-year-old Rey David Bautista-Antonio, was also arrested and convicted of three counts of drunken driving.
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Top left to right: Selvin Joel Lara Diaz, Salvador Ramirez Carrillo, Ronnie Andy Martinez Lopez, Bongpachan Fortysome, Ray David Bautista Antonio. (ice)
Bradford said that thanks to ICE agents’ “unwavering commitment” to protecting this community from foreign invaders and other illegal aliens who undermine the rule of law, a previously deported Mexican Mafia gang member accused of raping and impregnating his minor sister, who is wanted in Mexico on murder charges, is no longer free to beat up law-abiding Americans or drive drunk on the road, and five other criminal aliens are no longer free in their communities from preying on innocent children. “I don’t.”
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“While it is impossible to take action against a crime that would never occur because of their efforts during this operation, we can assure you that they have saved lives and prevented countless Houstonians from becoming victims of violent crime and suffering nightmares and PTSD,” Bradford said.
