Posted: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 5:33 pm

From Staff Reports news hickoryrecord.com

LONG VIEW N.C. – A Granite Falls man wanted for deportation violations was arrested in a multi-agency operation after police received information he was trying to leave the state.

Rafael Rios Marroquin, 33, of 22 Holly Drive, was previously deported after multiple convictions for felony drug trafficking offenses, according to the Long View Police Department.

A confidential source told Long View investigators Tuesday that Marroquin, who had re-entered the country illegally, was going to be at Walmart in Granite Falls to receive funds through Western Union that would allow him to leave the state, said Long View Police Department Sgt. J.K. Roberts.

Police said they received information the suspect’s family in Mexico was wiring the money to him.

Long View police were familiar with the suspect due to a marijuana trafficking investigation in which officers seized about 25 pounds of marijuana from a residence where he was staying. He spent time in prison after being convicted of charges related to that investigation.

After his deportation and re-entry into the country, the suspect eluded law enforcement because he knew he was wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for numerous deportation violations, according to authorities.

Investigators from the Long View Police Department and the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office staged near the Walmart with ICE deportation agents. When the suspect arrived in a vehicle, investigators and agents surrounded the vehicle and arrested him.

The suspect denied any plan to receive money to leave the state and said he did not know he was wanted by authorities, according to Long View police.

Federal agents transported Marroquin to Charlotte where he appeared before a federal judge to face charges listed in federal indictments for deportation violations, police said.

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