I.C.E. News Release

November 19, 2008

ICE and Providence Police take wanted criminal off the streets
Subject wanted on a warrant in Guatemala

PROVIDENCE, RI - Last night U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents together with the Providence Police Department Detective Bureau's Special Response Unit took a wanted criminal off the streets and into custody.

ICE and Providence Police arrested Jose Arnoldo Pinto, 45 years of age and a national of Guatemala, at 181 Pettys Avenue in Providence without incident. Pinto is illegally in the United States and has been charged with immigration violations.

Providence Police received information that there was a fugitive living in Providence who was wanted in Guatemala for criminal charges. The Providence Police then contacted ICE for assistance with the investigation.

Upon investigation it was determined that Pinto was in fact wanted on a warrant in Guatemala for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. This information was confirmed by the ICE Attaché Office in Guatemala.

"The U.S. is not a place criminals can run to instead of facing charges in their home countries," said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent-in-charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Boston. "I want to send a strong message to criminal aliens in Rhode Island, and elsewhere, that ICE and our law enforcement partners will be going after you every day to keep the streets of Rhode Island safe."

Foucart added, "This case highlights how successful law enforcement partnerships can take dangerous people out of our communities. It is something we are doing every day in Providence and other parts of the country to remove criminal aliens from the United States."

The subject is being held in ICE custody pending a hearing before a federal immigration judge.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081119providence.htm