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An illegal immigrant facing multiple rape charges was allowed to walk out of court after federal immigration agents were denied a request to interview him first, the Herald has learned.
That same suspect had a driver’s license permit from the RMV, a law enforcement official said.
Elgin Antonio Bamaca Zacarias, a 30-year-old citizen of Guatemala, is now in federal custody awaiting a deportation hearing.
He was arrested in Lynn after being arraigned — and released — on two counts of rape, three counts of assault to rape, and one count of assault and battery on a pregnant victim.
“These crimes, which include multiple charges of rape and assault and battery on a pregnant victim, are deeply disturbing,” said Todd Lyons, director of the Boston field office of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). “ERO Boston is committed to apprehending and removing immigration violators who present a threat to public safety.”
It’s not known when and how Zacarias made his way into the U.S. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers attempted to interview him in Lynn District Court, they were denied.
Zacarias was later arrested near his Lynn home without incident Wednesday, according to ICE.
In fiscal year 2022, ERO arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories. This group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including 21,531 assault offenses; 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.
ICE officers also arrested a Brazilian national for financial fraud in Everett on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old, whose last name De Souza Ramos was all that was made public, crossed into the U.S. illegally in 2021 in Otay Mesa, Calif., ICE said in a release.
His home country has sought him for financial fraud, ICE said, and now faces deportation back to Brazil to face his charges.
This all comes as the state is trying to cope with an influx of migrants.
As the Herald has reported, a federal team sent to Massachusetts to take stock of an influx of migrants met with at least one mayor whose city plays host to an emergency shelter and held a closed-door meeting with local providers this past week.
Both meetings were part of a two-day visit by the Department of Homeland Security to better understand Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system and the state’s ability to deal with an influx of migrants. It came after more than two months of repeated calls for federal help from Gov. Maura Healey.
The Department of Homeland Security team met with Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin and the city’s police chief Tuesday afternoon at a local Comfort Inn that is hosting about 25 migrant families. More than 6,900 migrant and homeless families are temporarily living in emergency shelters throughout Massachusetts, including at many hotels and motels.
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