Venezuelan illegal migrant squatters arrested at NYC home with drugs and guns were previously apprehended at southern border then released – including one previously charged with attempted murder
Many of the migrants found in a Bronx home filled with guns and drugs were previously arrested at the southern border and released into the US.
Eight migrants were taken from the home in the Bronx, New York City, on March 27 and drugs, weapons, endless junk and a seven-year-old child were found inside.
Six of them were quickly released on cashless bail by a judge, while two remained behind bars after failing to post bail.
Homeland Security agents re-arrested three of them on Wednesday after returning to the Hull Avenue squatter’s den following their release. Four others detained by the NYPD had detention requests filed to turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE officials confirmed the eight were previously arrested at the border Fox News digital.
Homeland Security agents raided a Bronx basement where migrants were squatting with drugs and weapons (photo: the house at Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood neighborhood)
The eight arrested were Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, Jaiver Alborno, 22, Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20, Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, 25, Yojairo Martinez, 42, Miquel Vaamondes-Barrios, 31, Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39, and Johan Cardenas . Silva, 35.
One suspect, Miguel Gregerio Barrios, was still at large and wanted by federal authorities.
Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, and Yojairo Martinez, 42, both men, were arrested during the federal raid, along with their female compatriot Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20.
Desousa-Villalta was the one who triggered the original raid last week after he was seen outside the property with a gun and witnesses called 911.
When police arrived, they found him allegedly pointing the 9mm CZ pistol at someone in an alley near the house, which is across the street from a school. Prosecutors asked that he be held on $150,000 bail, but he was released without any cash bond for another week of freedom.
Desousa-Villalta was charged with attempted murder in Yonkers on August 28 last year after he allegedly shot another migrant in the leg during an argument over a woman.
A group of eight migrants from Venezuela have been camping in the basement of New York for ‘months’
Homeland Security agents raided the home after NYPD officers arrested eight people in the home where the illegal activity allegedly occurred
All eight were arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance and acting in a manner harmful to a child. (Photo: Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20, arrested during the raid)
The house where the migrants were was covered in rubbish and luggage, with clothes, shoes and belongings spilling out of suitcases and bags
However, the charges were dropped after the victim refused to testify.
“On August 28, 2023, Yonkers Police arrested De Sousa for the crimes of assault – 1: with intent to cause serious injury with a weapon; and second-degree murder: with intent,” an ICE statement said, according to Fox News.
Martinez was caught by Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, on September 22, 2022, and released into the US.
Castillo surrendered to the Border Patrol in Brownsville, Texas, on May 6, 2023, and was also released while her asylum case was processed.
She was arrested on January 6 by Woodbridge police in New Jersey, charged with shoplifting and manufacturing burglary tools. Castillo and six other migrants face gun and drug charges in connection with the same arrest. She was released without bail after that arrest
Castillo, Martinez and Desousa-Villalta are all now being held pending deportation hearings following their arrests in the Bronx.
Footage of the aftermath of the raid shows the disgusting basement where the migrants squatted – covered in rubbish, luggage, rubbish bags and a makeshift swimming pool.
A seven-year-old child was also found at the scene among the drugs and weapons, although it is unclear who the child’s parents are and why he was in the destroyed basement.
The inside of the basement was torn apart, with all kinds of rubbish on the floor and suitcases thrown carelessly across the floor
Dramatic footage from Wednesday’s raid showed the migrants being escorted out of the building in handcuffs
The NYPD 52nd Precinct shared a photo of the seized assets – including guns, ammunition and drugs
The group of migrants was camping in the New York basement when police received a call about a man with a gun near a nearby school, which led officers to the property where the illegal activity was taking place.
When authorities obtained a search warrant, they found two more loaded guns, three loaded extended magazines, ammunition and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine. A seven-year-old boy was also found in the house together with the group of migrants.
The house where the migrants were housed was covered in trash and luggage, with clothes, shoes and belongings spilling out of the bags.
The inside of the basement was torn apart, with all kinds of rubbish on the floor and suitcases thrown carelessly across the floor.
The illegal activity is said to have been going on for months, across the street from a school
In the photo: one of the migrants being escorted from the building in handcuffs
Hector Desousa Villata, 24, from Venezuela (left) and Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39 (right) were among the six migrants released yesterday
The raid initially resulted in eight arrests and police suspect that the migrants were illegally squatting in the building
The entrance to the basement was full of trash, including a baby’s car seat and piles of trash bags
Police initially discovered the basement-turned-drug den when the migrant was seen fleeing with a gun just steps away from a school
There seemed to be suitcases and bags full of belongings scattered around the inside and outside of the Bronx basement
A seven-year-old boy was found in the house together with the group of migrants
A neighbor said: ‘They are squatters and the owner has been trying to get them out of the apartment for a long time’
The illegal activity is believed to have been going on for months at the home at Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood neighborhood — across the street from a school, according to FOX news.
A neighbor said: ‘They are squatters and the owner has been trying to get them out of the apartment for a long time.
“I think he’s set a court date, apparently because they’ve been squatters for over thirty days. They came, they were a disruptive force, especially because there were many of them. You didn’t know who was staying there, who wasn’t staying there, and the building owner had a hard time getting them out,” said neighbor Alfred Munoz. ABC7.