U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents recently apprehended an at-large fugitive Honduran national who is wanted in his home country for a double murder charge.
Francisco Escobar-Orellana is wanted on a 2005 arrest warrant for allegedly killing two men with a machete at a liquor store in 1993. It was determined that the man also entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and place.
Escobar-Orellana was arrested near his home in Hope Mills, North Carolina, during a targeted operation in conjunction with ICE Homeland Security Investigations officers. He was subsequently transported to the Wake County Detention Center where he remains in custody pending further processing.
“ICE is focused on identifying, arresting and removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws,” said Sean Gallagher, director of the Atlanta ERO Field Office. “ICE Fugitive Operations Teams conduct targeted enforcement operations toward these identified threats to public safety. North Carolina residents are safer today thanks to the professionalism and hard work of these dedicated officers.”
ICE said it has lodged an immigration detainer against Escobar-Orellana and will seek his removal from the United States to face his murder charge in Honduras.