EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A reported member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and an international fugitive who was previously arrested in El Paso is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his arrest this week in New Mexico, ICE said in a news release.
Leonel Arquimedes Bustamante-Sanchez, 27, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 20 in Albuquerque, ICE said.
He has a past tie to El Paso, where he was arrested in 2023 after he allegedly entered the country illegally. He was served with a notice to appear before an immigration judge and was released on his own recognizance in that incident, ICE said.
According to ICE, he has an active warrant for his arrest in Bogota, Colombia, where he was sentenced to seven years for trafficking and possessing illegal firearms.
Bustamante-Sanchez was arrested after a New Mexico State Police officer recognized his vehicle as one matching the description of a stolen vehicle and then did a traffic stop.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents and Enforcement and Removal Operations officers responded to the scene and identified Bustamante-Sanchez as a subject of a criminal investigation targeting Tren de Aragua gang members involved in a multitude of crimes, including murder and drug trafficking, in the Albuquerque area., ICE said.
“Don’t be fooled. Members of this terrorist-designated criminal network are not just involved in low-level crime,” HSI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens said. “They are involved in organized violence that devastates their victims and community. HSI, as well as our dedicated law enforcement partners, are joined in our resolute efforts to identify them, arrest them and send them back to their home country — where they belong.”
ICE said Bustamante-Sanchez will remain in their custody, charged with entering the country illegally. Further criminal charges are pending.
This is an HSI-led investigation with the assistance from ERO Albuquerque, the FBI and the New Mexico State Police.
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