On Tuesday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in New England conducted a joint operation on Nantucket, Massachusetts, to apprehend “illegal criminal aliens.”
In a post on X, the DEA New England division stated that its agents aided ICE and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston with the arrests on the beautiful and upscale summer vacation destination island located 30 miles southeast of Cape Cod.
According to the Nantucket Current, the DEA verified the arrest of a man previously accused of kidnapping, domestic violence, and battery, and a woman.
Authorities did not provide the suspects’ names or countries of origin.
In a response to the journal, the acting special agent in charge of the DEA’s New England Field Division said simply that the agency collaborated with federal partners on immigration enforcement actions.
The US Coast Guard also assisted with the operation, apparently transporting federal agents to Nantucket and returning to the mainland with a suspect in tow.
According to a news statement from the Town of Nantucket, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informed the Nantucket Police Department about their preparations to serve an arrest warrant for a “violent offender.”
The federal authorities also requested aid from Nantucket police, who had local geographical knowledge of the area.
The department’s detective team supported federal agents in locating required addresses and provided transportation for the DEA.
The DEA shared two images from the operation. In one shot, DEA officers were seen on a US Coast Guard vessel with their backs to the camera, while in the other, the two suspects were in custody.
In September, ICE arrested at least six people on the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. The arrests were part of a bigger effort to apprehend illegal immigrant suspects accused of serious crimes in the seaside communities frequented by the Biden and Obama families.
On September 10, ICE ERO Boston apprehended Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, a 28-year-old Salvadoran illegal immigrant. He was charged with one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age gap and two charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.