A citizen of Ecuador accused of re-entering the country after being deported was arrested in Elba on March 26 during a traffic stop following an investigation that began in Buffalo.
Luis Castro Mayancela, 24, is charged by criminal complaint with re-entry after prior removal, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
On the day of the arrest, agents of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were conducting surveillance of a residence on Mill Street when a blue Chevrolet Silvarado pulled up to the house.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the arresting agent in federal court, the target of the surveillance was a person accused of entering the country illegally.
Two Hispanic males left the house and got into the vehicle.
Enforcement and Removal team members began a mobile surveillance.
Border Patrol agents conducted a vehicle stop on Ford Road, Elba, at 11:20 a.m. on March 26.
The complaint states that four people were in the vehicle, including Mayancela.
An immigration judge ordered Mayancela to leave the country on Dec. 13, 2019. He was placed on a flight to Ecuador, departing Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana, on Dec. 30, 2019.
The arresting agent stated that there was no evidence that Mayancela had been granted permission to be in the U.S. prior to his arrest.
He was processed at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia. A fingerprint scan indicated that his fingerprints matched those previously obtained for Mayancela.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer ordered that Mayancela be detained pending further court proceedings.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sasha Mascarenhas and Andrew J. Henning are prosecuting the case.
Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement Removal Operations, under the direction of Acting Field Office Director Steven Kurzdorfer, supervised the investigation.
