Image Credit: Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald 
Federal authorities arrested more than 1,400 illegal aliens during another surge operation in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts last month.
A coalition of federal agencies participated in Operation Patriot 2.0, targeting dangerous foreign criminals in the Boston area and throughout the Bay State between Sept. 4 and Sept. 30.
Agents and officers with the FBI, ICE, CBP, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service arrested hundreds of gang members, murderers, rapists, child sex predators, and drug dealers across Massachusetts.
At least three suspects were known terrorists and many had foreign arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notices.
Nearly half of the 1,406 illegal aliens arrested during the operation had “significant criminal convictions or pending criminal charges for crimes committed in the United States or were known foreign fugitives,” according to ICE.
Known members of MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios, and 18th Street gangs were among those apprehended.
ICE published details about some of the worst offenders taken off the streets of Massachusetts last month:
- Wellington Ramos-De Souza, 39. Brazil. Charged with rape.
- Raj Kumar Sah, 34. India. Charged with indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, enticement of a child to engage in prostitution/human trafficking or commercial sex.
- Anderson Stephen Hernandez-Vasquez, 24. Guatemala. Convicted of child rape.
- Mauricio Eguizabal-Ovalle, 47. El Salvador. Charged with indecent assault and battery, statutory rape, aggravated rape of a child with a five-year age gap, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, unnatural acts with a child.
- Manuel Antonio Rivera-Eraso, 35. Honduras. Charged with possession of child pornography, rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child.
- Souvanheuang Phachansiri, 65. Laos. Convicted of second-degree murder and kidnapping.
- Jordani Joseph, 26. Haiti. Charged with rape and kidnapping.
- Javier Zuniga, 59. Mexico. Convicted of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
“Patriot 2.0 exposed the grave consequences of sanctuary policies and the urgent need for local leaders to prioritize their constituents’ safety over politics,” said acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons.
“Every illegal alien we arrested during the operation was breaking U.S. immigration law, and hundreds were violent criminals who should never have been allowed to roam freely in our communities. Local law enforcement agencies released them instead of handing them over to us in a secure environment, and this puts neighborhoods, law enforcement officers and illegal aliens at risk.”
All aliens apprehended will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their deportation from the U.S.
During the original Operation Patriot, which took place in Massachusetts in May, nearly 1,500 illegal aliens were arrested.
