STERLING, Va. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two men, including one fleeing prosecution, at Washington Dulles International Airport recently who were wanted in Maryland on felony sex crimes charges.
CBP officers arrested Jose Efrain Mejia Alas, a 34-year-old Salvadoran national living in Germantown, Maryland, as he attempted to board a flight to El Salvador on August 21. He was wanted by the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department for two counts of second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor, and other charges. Mejia Alas admitted that he entered the United States illegally six years ago. CBP officers placed a detainer on Mejia Alas to be returned to CBP custody for removal proceedings upon adjudication of his charges.
On August 18, CBP officers arrested Juan Anitportan Lara Ramos, a 50-year-old Salvadoran national and U.S. lawful permanent resident living in Essex, Maryland, after he arrived on a flight from El Salvador. He was wanted by the Baltimore County, Maryland, Police Department for sexual abuse of a minor.
In both cases, CBP officers confirmed with the wanting jurisdictions that the warrants remained active, and officers verified the identities of both travelers as the subjects of those felony-charged warrants. CBP officers turned both men over to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
“Customs and Border Protection officers continue to support our local law enforcement partners by identifying and arresting travelers who are wanted on a variety of criminal charges, including these heinous sex crimes allegations,” said Daniel Escobedo, Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C. “Border security remains a critical mission for CBP, and one that we take very serious because it helps to ensure the safety of our communities.”
CBP processed an average of more than 650,000 arriving travelers every day at our nation’s airports, seaports and land border crossings, and arrested an average of 25 wanted persons every day. See what else CBP accomplished during a typical day in 2021.
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is a centralized automated database designed to share information among law enforcement agencies including outstanding warrants for a wide range of offenses. CBP officers review passenger manifests of arriving international flights and identify travelers with outstanding arrests warrants on a wide range of charges, including homicide, fraud, larceny, robbery, narcotics distribution, sexual child abuse and child pornography.
CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.