Four of the 11 men arrested in a police sting targeting suspected sex offenders in Indiana are living in the country illegally, the Department of Homeland Security says, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has now filed detainer requests for all four.
According to DHS, the men arrested in the operation believed they were arranging to meet underage girls for sexual encounters after communicating with them online. Instead, they were met by undercover detectives when they arrived.
The four men identified by ICE as being in the country illegally come from four different nations:
- El Hadji Babacar Ndiaye, a citizen of Senegal who was apprehended at the southern border in Lukeville, Arizona, in September 2023 and released under the Biden administration.
- Lucky Philip Udoudo, a citizen of Nigeria who entered the U.S. as a "got-away" at an unknown time and location.
- Filomeno Ricardo Flores Marin, a citizen of Mexico who crossed into the U.S. illegally in Arizona in 2002.
- David Josue Gomez-Posada, a citizen of El Salvador who entered the U.S. illegally as a juvenile in 2017.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News the agency is pressing Indiana authorities to cooperate with the detainers. "We are calling on Indiana to honor our detainers," the spokesperson said. "All of their claims will be heard by an immigration judge, and they will receive due process. This administration will not ignore the rule of law."
Marin faces two counts of sex offenses along with one count each of molestation of a minor and enticement of a minor for indecent purposes. DHS says his record also includes a prior arrest for stolen property. He was previously taken into ICE custody on Jan. 18, 2019, while assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration on an operation in Indianapolis, and was released on bond on March 7, 2019.
Udoudo is charged with child solicitation and sexual misconduct with a minor. Gomez-Posada and Ndiaye are each charged with child solicitation.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the US," the DHS spokesperson said.
DHS pointed to broader enforcement numbers in making its case for local cooperation, noting that seven of the top 10 safest cities in the country work with ICE. The agency also cited roughly 40,000 arrests in Florida and a two-week enforcement operation in West Virginia that resulted in 650 arrests of illegal immigrants.
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