Last week, eight Venezuelan illegal immigrant squatters were arrested in a New York City home where drugs and guns were found. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed that these individuals had been previously apprehended at the southern border and released into the U.S. One of them was even suspected of murder.
Following the arrests, immigration authorities took three of the squatters back into custody on Wednesday and issued detainer requests for four others who are currently in local custody. One individual remains at large.
The migrants were initially apprehended after New York police responded to a report of a person displaying a gun in a Bronx apartment on March 27. Some of the squatters had been released earlier but were re-arrested by federal authorities on Wednesday.
One of the migrants, Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, who was waving a gun during the recent incident, had a prior arrest in August. He had allegedly shot another migrant in the leg during an argument in Yonkers in August 2023.
Two other individuals, Yoessy Pino Castillo and Yojairo Martinez, were also arrested during the raid. Castillo had been encountered by border authorities in Texas in May 2023 and was later arrested in New Jersey for shoplifting and burglary tool manufacturing. Martinez had been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in 2022 near El Paso.
The three migrants subject to ICE detainers are Johan Jose Cardenas Silva, Yerbin Benjamin Lozada Munoz, and Javier Jose Albornoz Marchan. Silva had entered the U.S. illegally and was ordered deported in March 2023 but was released and failed to report to ICE. Munoz was taken into custody near Eagle Pass, Texas, before being released. Marchan had multiple arrests for various offenses.
All three individuals will remain in custody as deportation proceedings begin. Miguel Gregerio Barrios is the only migrant suspect still being sought by authorities.
