SAN FRANCISCO ― U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents removed an active member of the 18th Street Gang, Melvin Armando Cortez-Moreno, to his home country of El Salvador where local authorities took him into custody.
Cortez-Moreno, 30, is wanted by the Salvadoran government for multiple egregious crimes, including charges of manslaughter, murder and other crimes with ties to 18th Street Gang activity.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) first encountered Cortez-Moreno on June 11, 2015, near South Komelik, Arizona, and arrested him for immigration law violations. The USBP transferred him to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) custody June 13, 2015.
On September 14, 2015, an immigration judge granted Cortez-Moreno bond. After posting bond, ERO released Cortez-Moreno from ICE custody on an order of supervision. Upon his release, Cortez-Moreno immediately filed a motion for change of venue from Florence, Arizona, to San Francisco.
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On September 24, 2015, an immigration judge in Florence, Arizona, granted Cortez-Moreno a change of venue to San Francisco. However, Cortez-Moreno later received an order for removal, June 14, 2017, to El Salvador issued by a San Francisco immigration judge because he failed to appear for his immigration court proceedings.
On July 31, 2017, “ERO San Francisco sent the individual or entity that posted Cortez-Moreno’s bond a Form I-340. This document by law required the individual or entity that posted his bond to surrender him to ERO San Francisco authorities. The responsible individual or entity failed to surrender Cortez-Moreno into ERO San Francisco custody on the required date,” according to ICE.
Cortez-Moreno was recently arrested, July 7, 2019, by the Sacramento Police Department for Driving Under the Influence Causing Bodily Injury.
On July 9, 2019, the Sacramento County Superior Court dropped the criminal charges against Cortez-Moreno. That day, ERO San Francisco arrested Cortez-Moreno outside of the Sacramento County Jail and took him into ICE custody pending immigration removal proceedings.