Brazilian drug trafficker caught, released at Arizona border arrested by ICE in Massachusetts sanctuary city

A convicted Brazilian drug trafficker who was caught and released by Border Patrol agents in Arizona more than a year ago was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a Massachusetts sanctuary city. 

Fugitive operations officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston arrested Diogo De-Sales Gomes, a 34-year-old unlawfully present Brazilian citizen convicted and sentenced to prison in Brazil for drug trafficking, in Somerville on Feb. 3, ICE Boston announced in a statement on Tuesday. 

The Boston Herald reported that Somerville has been a sanctuary city since 1987. Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton and Northampton are also sanctuary cities to various degrees, the newspaper says. 

According to its government website, Somerville last affirmed its sanctuary status in 2016 in response to the candidacy of Donald Trump, who would be elected president later that year. 

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ERO Boston officers arrested De-Sales Gomes, who is the subject of an active criminal warrant in Brazil, as the result of his drug trafficking conviction in the Judicial Court of Cartagina, Mina Gerais, Brazil, in February 2022. 

"The trafficking of illicit substances is a global epidemic that has affected many of our communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement Tuesday. "The arrest of Mr. De-Sales Gomes removes a convicted narcotics trafficker from the public before he could potentially inflict further harm on our residents. Our officers continue to proudly fight against the illegal narcotics epidemic to ensure the safety of those we serve."

In December 2021, U.S. Border Patrol apprehended De-Sales Gomes near San Luis, Arizona, after he unlawfully entered the United States without inspection, ICE said. De-Sales Gomes was subsequently issued a Notice to Appear and released on his own recognizance pending removal proceedings. He failed to appear for that hearing.

ERO Boston initiated an investigation after Brazilian authorities made them aware of De-Sales Gomes’ presence in the Boston area of responsibility. Officers arrested him without incident near where he had been residing in Somerville.

De-Sales Gomes remains in ICE custody pending a hearing with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). ERO Boston will seek removal pending the outcome of proceedings.

"Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by EOIR. EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE," the press release said. "Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges."

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In fiscal year 2022, ERO arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories; this group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions. These included 21,531 assault offenses; 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses, ICE said.