Accused MS-13 gang member arrested after traffic stop in southeastern Mass., ICE says
A Salvadoran national who federal authorities say is an MS-13 gang member is now in federal custody after state police pulled him over during a traffic stop in Middleboro.
William Alberto Villalobos-Melendez, 24, who is in the United States illegally, was arrested in Brockton on May 14, one day after state police in Middleboro charged him with unlicensed driving and using an electronic device while driving, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on Monday.
Federal officials on Monday released an arrest photograph showing Villalobos-Melendez, who is in handcuffs and wearing a green Boston Celtics T-shirt, with three federal officers.
'William Alberto Villalobos-Melendez has been illegally residing in the United States for almost nine years,' ICE Enforcement and Removal Boston Acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement.
'He is a validated member of a violent transnational street gang and poses a threat to our Massachusetts residents,' Hyde said. 'ICE Boston will not tolerate any threat that a member of a nefarious gang poses to our neighbors. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting criminal alien threats to our New England communities.'
Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston working with agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations New England and FBI Boston arrested Villalobos-Melendez, Hyde said. He will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.
On June 12, 2019, a federal immigration judge ordered Villalobos-Melendez, who is a documented member of the notorious MS-13 criminal gang, removed from the U.S. to El Salvador, Hyde said.
At some point, he came back into the United States and into Massachusetts. Hyde said he has been living in the U.S. illegally for nearly a decade.
U.S. Border Patrol previously arrested Villalobos-Melendez on Oct. 11, 2016, after he illegally entered the U.S. near Hidalgo, Texas.
Border Patrol determined that Villalobos had entered the U.S. without admission or inspection by an immigration official, Hyde said.
Federal officials issued Villalobos a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge, who later ordered him removed from the country.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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