WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Denver Fugitive Operations team officers arrested one of ERO’s most wanted fugitives Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, making a second arrest in the process.
Jose Victor Bonilla-Melendez, aka Anthony Garcia-Melendez, 48, a citizen of Honduras, was located after ERO received a tip about his whereabouts from someone who saw a social media post by the local Denver ABC affiliate regarding his inclusion among ICE’s most wanted fugitives.
Bonilla–Melendez was wanted by ICE for removal from the U.S. as convicted sex offender, last seen in Aurora.
Bonilla-Melendez has a criminal history that includes felony convictions for assault causing serious bodily injury, sexual assault, and unlawful re-entry of a deported alien.
He has been removed from the U.S. on two prior occasions, most recently on April 5, 2006. On Dec. 7, 2014, the Aurora Police Department arrested him on local charges, but the subject posted bond before an ICE detainer could be placed. Despite numerous attempts by ICE to locate his whereabouts, he remained at-large.
During Bonilla-Melendez’s arrest, ERO officers also encountered another individual who they arrested – Bonilla-Melendez’s brother, German Bonilla, who was convicted of sexual assault against a child and unlawful re-entry after deportation following conviction for an aggravated felony. German has also been removed from the U.S. twice previously.
“The unanticipated encounter of Jose Bonilla-Melendez’s brother, German Bonilla — another criminal alien — demonstrates the dangerous nature of our Fugitive Operations Teams,” said Lynch. “Our ICE officers must stay vigilant to the unexpected.”
The ICE National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center (NCATC) provided critical investigative support for this arrest, including criminal and intelligence analysis from a variety of sources. The NCATC provides comprehensive analytical support to aid the at-large enforcement efforts of all ICE components.
Members of the public who have information about fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the toll-free ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested convicted sex offender Jose Victor Bonilla-Melendez, 48, on Friday in Aurora, Colorado. Melendez is on ICE’s list of “most wanted fugitives.”
A citizen of Honduras, Melendez was caught by authorities after receiving a tip from someone who recognized him from a social media post indicating Melendez’s inclusion in the ICE wanted list.
He has a criminal history that includes felony convictions for assault causing serious bodily injury, sexual assault, and unlawful re-entry of a deported alien.
“A convicted felon and one of our most wanted fugitives, Bonilla-Melendez is a threat no more and is in custody awaiting removal from the United States,” Colorado ICE field officer Jeffrey Lynch said of the arrest.
The Trump administration has expressed its intention to expand the definition of crimes that will lead the ICE to deport criminal aliens. The number of criminal deportations had steadily decreased over the course of the Obama administration due to his administration’s increasingly narrow definition of a criminal alien.
While Obama had come to be known as the “Deporter-in-Chief,” data from the Department of Homeland Security indicates that his presidency averaged less deportations per year than any presidency since that of Richard Nixon.