Two refugees were detained by immigration officials on the Vineyard

Two international fugitives were arrested on Martha's Vineyard by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston earlier this month on allegations they committed crimes in their home countries, according to news releases from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday.

On September 17, customs officers arrested a 50-year-old Salvadoran man in Tisbury. He was charged by Salvadoran authorities in 2011 with crimes against humanity and illegal human trafficking.

Also on September 17, a 36-year-old Brazilian man was arrested in Oak Bluffs for international drug trafficking crimes.

The names of both men were not released and a representative for ERO Boston was not immediately available for comment.

Both refugees are wanted by the authorities in their home countries and are in the care of ERO Boston.

Customs officials say the Salvadoran man entered the United States “unlawfully” several times, with the most recent entry at an unknown location and date “without inspection, approval or parole by a U.S. immigration official.”

The first time the Salvadoran man was arrested for illegally entering the United States was in 1994 by the US Border Patrol. He had entered the country near Harlingen, Texas. In 1995 he was ordered returned to El Salvador.

In 2003, the Portland, Maine, Superior Court convicted the Salvadoran man of disorderly conduct and ordered him to pay a fine. The individual was arrested again in 2009 by ERO Boston in Framingham, which the prosecution did not provide, and was released on a supervision order. ERO Boston had placed the man in an “Alternatives to Detention” program, a surveillance method for customs officials, and issued an exit plan. However, the man violated his program terms and was arrested again by customs officials on May 20, 2010, before being deported to El Salvador on June 20, 2011.

“This Salvadoran refugee is wanted by the authorities in his home country to face extremely serious and disturbing allegations,” Patricia H. Hyde, deputy field director for ERO Boston, said in the press release. “He tried to hide in Massachusetts and evade the law in his home country. He posed a significant threat to the residents of Martha's Vineyard. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety in all of our New England communities by apprehending and deporting serious non-citizen offenders.”

The Brazilian entered the United States legally in Orlando, Florida on March 7, 2020, but “violated the conditions of his legal entry.” On May 10, 2012, the Brazilian court sentenced the man to ten years and two months in prison for international drug trafficking. Officials did not disclose to what extent he had violated the conditions of legal registration.

ERO Boston has also recently made additional arrests on the islands. A 24-year-old Brazilian national has been charged with five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor arrested in Edgartown in August.

Four Salvadoran nationals were arrested on Nantucket in September for various sex crimes, including a 49-year-old who was charged with 11 counts of sex crimes against a child. A fifth Salvadoran man, a 30-year-old suspected MS-13 gang member who was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of assault, was also arrested by ERO Boston this month.