Many of the immigrants found squatting in a Bronx house full of weapons and drugs were previously arrested at the southern border and released into the United States.
Eight immigrants were taken from the house in the Bronx, New York City, on March 27 and drugs, weapons, endless trash 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 they returned to the illegal den on Hull Avenue following their release. Four others detained by the NYPD were presented with detainer requests to be transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE officials have confirmed that all eight were previously arrested at the border, according to Fox News Digital.
Homeland Security agents raided a basement in the Bronx where immigrants were dealing with drugs and weapons (Pictured: the house at Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood section)
The eight arrested were Héctor Desousa Villalta, 24 years old, Jaiver Alborno, 22 years old, Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20 years old, Yerbin Lozado Muñoz, 25 years old, Yojairo Martínez, 42 years old, Miquel Vaamondes Barrios, 31 years old, Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39 years old , and Johan Cárdenas. Silva, 35 years old.
One suspect, Miguel Gregerio Barrios, was still at large and wanted by federal authorities.
Héctor Desousa-Villalta, 24, and Yojairo Martínez, 42, both men, were arrested in the federal raid, along with their compatriot Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20.
Desousa-Villalta was the one who sparked the original raid last week after he was seen with a gun outside the property and witnesses called 911.
When police arrived, they found him allegedly pointing the 9mm CZ handgun at someone in an alley near the home, which is across the street from a school. Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $150,000, but he was released without any cash bail for an additional week of freedom.
Desousa-Villalta was charged with attempted murder in Yonkers on Aug. 28 of last year after he allegedly shot another migrant in the leg during an argument over a woman.
A group of eight Venezuelan immigrants had been camping in a basement in New York for ‘months’
Homeland Security agents raided the home after NYPD officers arrested eight people at the home where the illegal activity was allegedly taking place.
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. (Pictured: Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20, being arrested during the raid)
The house where the migrants were staying was covered in trash and luggage, with clothes, shoes and belongings overflowing from suitcases and bags.
However, the charges were dropped after the victim refused to testify.
‘On August 28, 2023, the Yonkers Police Department arrested De Sousa for the crimes of assault: first: intent to cause serious injury with a weapon; and second-degree murder – with intent,” a statement from ICE said, according to Fox News.
Martínez was captured by Border Patrol on September 22, 2022, near El Paso, Texas, and released into the United States.
Castillo surrendered to Border Patrol in Brownsville, Texas, on May 6, 2023, and was also released while her asylum case was processed.
She was arrested by the Woodbridge Police Department in New Jersey on January 6 on charges of shoplifting and making burglary tools. Castillo and six other migrants face weapons and drug charges in the same arrest. She was released without bail after that arrest.
Castillo, Martínez and Desousa-Villalta are now detained awaiting deportation hearings following their arrests in the Bronx.
Images taken after the raid reveal the disgusting basement where the migrants were squatting, which was covered in clutter, luggage, garbage bags and a makeshift swimming pool.
A seven-year-old boy was also found at the scene, among drugs and weapons, although it is unclear who the boy’s parents are and why he was in the trashed basement.
The inside of the basement was trashed, with miscellaneous trash cluttered on the floor and suitcases strewn carelessly all over the place.
Dramatic footage from Wednesday’s raid showed the migrants being escorted off the property in handcuffs.
The NYPD’s 52nd Precinct shared a photo of the seized belongings, including weapons, ammunition and drugs.
The group of immigrants had been camping in the New York basement when police received a call about a man with a gun near a nearby school, leading 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 along with the group of migrants.
The house where the immigrants were staying was covered in trash and luggage, with clothes, shoes and belongings spilling out of the bags.
The inside of the basement was trashed, with miscellaneous trash cluttered on the floor and suitcases strewn carelessly all over the place.
The illicit activity had allegedly been going on for months, right in front of a school.
Pictured: One of the immigrants escorted off the property in handcuffs.
Héctor Desousa Villata, 24, of 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 the immigrants were illegally occupying the property.
The entrance to the basement was filled with trash, including a baby car seat and piles of garbage bags.
Police initially discovered the basement converted into a drug den when the migrant saw a gun a few steps from a school and fled.
There appeared to be suitcases and bags full of belongings scattered around the inside and outside of the Bronx basement.
A seven-year-old boy found in the house 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 illicit activity had allegedly been going on for months at the home located at Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood section, directly across from a school, according to FOX news.
A neighbor said: “They are squatters and the landlord has been trying to get them out of the apartment for a long time.”
“I think he has a court date set, apparently because they are squatters for over 30 days. They came, they were a disruptive force mainly because there were so many of them. You didn’t know who was staying there, and the owner of the building had a great time trying to get them out,” neighbor Alfred Muñoz told ABC7.