Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

Please enter a valid email address.

Five Chilean nationals accused of burglarizing a Baltimore County, Maryland residence last month and being linked to crimes in other states, were all in the country illegally, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Feb 3, 2024, the Baltimore County Police Department arrested 20-year-old Gabriel Matamala-Ponce; 21-year-old Thomas Crisosto-Araya; 22-year-old Jorge Gatica-Vergara; 23-year-old Luis Oyanedel-Valenzuela; and 27-year-old Gabriel Miranda-Gonzalez and charged them with first-degree attempted burglary and various other burglary-related crimes.

Officers were called to the 2300 block of Tufton Springs Lane at about 6:45 p.m. that day for a burglary in progress, and quickly located the suspects fleeing from the scene in a vehicle, before stopping them and taking them into custody.

A follow-up investigation discovered the five suspects were possibly connected to four other burglaries in the county, as well as crimes in North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma. They were also allegedly part of a theft ring out of South America.

MARYLAND BURGLARS LINKED TO SOUTH AMERICAN THEFT GROUP CONNECTED TO CASES IN MULTIPLE STATES: POLICE

Baltimore County Burglary suspects

Baltimore County, Maryland police arrested five men suspected of being part of a South American theft group. (Baltimore County Police Twitter)

ICE told Fox News Digital that Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Baltimore had lodged immigration detainers against all five individuals.

“ERO Baltimore is closely tracking the five individuals that Baltimore County Police arrested Feb. 3 for burglary charges,” ERO Baltimore Spokesperson James Covington said. “All five of the individuals are Chilean nationals.”

ICE said Crisosto-Araya, Gatica-Vergara, Miranda-Gonzalez, and Oyanedel-Valenzuela all entered the country lawfully as non-immigrants but did not depart according to the terms of their admittance.

MARYLAND WOMAN CONVICTED OF KILLING, DISMEMBERING BOYFRIEND, DISPOSING HIS REMAINS

ICE agents immigration

June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

The fifth individual, Matamala-Ponce, entered the U.S. illegally without admission by a U.S. immigration official, ICE said.

All five are also connected to crimes in other states.

The Orange County, North Carolina sheriff’s office issued arrest warrants for Crisosto-Araya, Gatica-Vergara, Oyanedel-Valenzuela and Matamala-Ponce on Feb. 28, 2024 for burglary-forced entry of a residence.

BALTIMORE POLICE OFFICER INDICTED ON EXCESSIVE FORCE, RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT

Miranda-Gonzalez was arrested by the Orange County, Florida sheriff’s office on Feb. 22, 2022 and charged with petty retail theft and paid a fine for the crime on April 22, 2022.

All five are being held in Baltimore County on an immigration detainer.

The detainers are lodged against non-citizens who have been arrested for criminal activity.

Under the detainer, ICE asks local and state law enforcement agencies to notify them as early as possible before releasing a non-citizen from custody.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The detainers place a hold on the release of the non-citizens for no more than 48 hours beyond the time they would otherwise be released, which allows ERO to assume custody for removal purposes.

Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Fox News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Australia news LIVE: Coalition mulls Labor’s stage 3 tax cut changes; Dutton to pledge $900m project for Dunkley byelection

Teachers have been warned against asking students to calculate their body mass…

No evidence of brain injury in people suffering ‘Havana Syndrome’: US study

US research agency finds no ‘biological abnormalities’ in US officials reporting incidents,…

Real estate brokerage Compass to pay $57.5 MILLION compensation to sellers for overcharging them – amid multiple legal cases accusing Realtors of conspiring to keep commissions artificially high

Real estate brokerage Compass has agreed to pay $57.5 million to settle…