Tag: Illegal Immigrant Crime

ICE Arrests MS-13 Gang Member in Maryland City Where Kilmar Abrego Garcia Claimed to be Transporting 9 People in 2022

Tom Pappert
Joel Armando Mejia-Benitez

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday announced the arrest of a citizen of El Salvador and confirmed gang member on Silver Spring, Maryland, the same state where Kilmar Abrego Garcia lived prior to his deportation in March, and the Maryland city where Abrego Garcia claimed to be transporting nine individuals during a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.

According to ICE, Joel Armanda Mejia-Benitez is a “validated” member of the Central American gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and was arrested last Monday in Silver Spring, after he was ordered to leave the country more than a decade ago.

Read the full story

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Had $1,400 in Cash Envelope During 2022 Tennessee Traffic Stop

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers captured in the body-worn camera footage of the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, released by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) to The Tennessee Star last week, said that the Salvadoran national had a pocket containing $1,400 as he transported passengers from Texas to Maryland. Confirming troopers suspected Abrego Garcia was trafficking people from Texas to Maryland, with an unexplained stop in St. Louis, Missouri, as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed last month, The Star reported last week that within the TDOSHS body camera footage, one trooper remarked, “He’s hauling these people for money.” The trooper added, “He’s getting paid to haul these people, probably to Maryland, I would say. If I had to guess.” BREAKING: Body cam footage obtained by Tennessee Star shows Tennessee Trooper saying Kilmar Abrego Garcia "hauling these people for money" pic.twitter.com/4FHWOIjSz5 — Tennessee Star (@TheTNStar) May 2, 2025 This analysis between troopers came shortly before one of the troopers divulged the cash found on Abrego Garcia’s person. “He’s got $1,400 cash in his pocket in an envelope,” said the trooper. “Probably payments.” Notably, the DHS has confirmed the 2001 Chevrolet Suburban driven…

Read the full story

Illegal Immigrant Convicted in East Tennessee Court for Murdering Girlfriend Before Sleeping Next to Body

Tom Pappert
Jose Angel Rios Ramirez

Jose Angel Rios Ramirez, who a county official described as an illegal immigrant, was convicted on Tuesday for the 2022 murder of Olivia Jarquin Pena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In a Facebook post, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp shared that Rios Ramirez was convicted by a Hamilton County jury on Tuesday, describing the victory for prosecutors as one of many “cases that no one ever hears about.”

Read the full story

Mississippi Traffic Stop of Human Smuggler Who Owned Car Driven by Kilmar Abrego Garcia Differed Wildly from 2022 Tennessee Incident

Tom Pappert
HSI Traffic Stop Arrest

Court records documenting the charges levied against human smuggler and illegal immigrant Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, obtained by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday, illustrate a stark contrast between the traffic December 4, 2019 stop of the vehicle containing Hernandez Reyes, and the December 1, 2022 stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol of a vehicle owned by Hernandez Reyes but operated by the citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month under the Trump administration, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The Star was first to report last week that Abrego Garcia was stopped by highway patrol in 2022, when he was transporting eight passengers from Texas to Maryland, with a claimed journey through Missouri, before reaching Tennessee.

Read the full story

DHS Document Confirms Kilmar Abrego Garcia Suspected of Human Trafficking During 2022 Traffic Stop in Tennessee Prior to Release by FBI

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Two days after The Tennessee Star exclusively reported that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in late 2022, when an officer suspected he was engaged in human trafficking, Bill Melugin of Fox News published a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document confirming many details. 

The DHS document confirms THP stopped Abrego Garcia on December 1, 2022 for speeding and failing to maintain his lane. It also confirms THP officers suspected the alleged Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member was participating in “Labor/Human Trafficking” while transporting eight individuals from Texas to Maryland, meaning a total of nine individuals were traveling in the vehicle.

Read the full story