April 5, 2007

Newly formed ICE Allentown, PA., Fugitive Operation Team arrests illegal alien drug dealers
Drugs, weapons and fake documents found at location

READING, PA - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested two brothers during an early morning fugitive alien operation in Reading, Pa., on Wednesday. Cauhtemoc Solorio Rojas, 41, and Leonel Solorio Rojas, 34, are citizens of Mexico. Both have been charged with possessing and intending to deliver marijuana, possessing prohibited offensive weapons, conspiracy and related offenses.

The newly formed ICE Allentown fugitive operation team conducted a consensual entry at the brothers' residence, where they discovered high-caliber weapons and drugs. With the assistance of the Reading Police Department, a search warrant was executed that further discovered Chinese AK47 rifles, sawed-off shotguns, a large quantity of marijuana, rounds of ammunition, $71,000 in cash and numerous fraudulent documents among other confiscated items.

"Taking fugitive aliens off our streets is a top ICE priority. Intercepting drugs, weapons and fraudulent documents is a plus for public safety," said Thomas Decker, ICE Philadelphia Field Office Director for Detention and Removal Operations. "These two have shown blatant disregard for law enforcement in the United States and they will now pay the price."

Cauhtemoc was ordered removed from the United States by an immigration judge in July 2006 and failed to comply with the order and thereby became a fugitive. Leonel, who was at the residence when the fugitive operations team came to get his brother, had entered the United States without inspection and is therefore an illegal alien. ICE placed detainers on the brothers for immigration violations, so that when drug and weapons charges have been resolved, they will come into ICE custody to be processed for removal from the United States.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

  Last Modified: