PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Maryland rape suspect Friday morning as he attempted to board a flight to Cancun, Mexico, at Philadelphia International Airport.
Officers arrested Adrian Castaneda Sanchez, 38, a Mexican national and U.S. lawful permanent resident residing in Pennsville, N.J. Castaneda Sanchez was wanted by Worcester County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office on multiple felony rape and sexual assault charges. The charges were filed on Wednesday.
CBP officers vetting passenger manifests of international flights departing from Philadelphia matched Castaneda Sanchez to the outstanding warrant. Officers responded to the departure gate, identified Castaneda Sanchez, and took him back to CBP’s inspection station.
CBP officers then verified Castaneda Sanchez as the subject to the warrant. Officers also confirmed that the warrant remained active and that Worcester County Sheriff’s Office desired extradition.
CBP officers arrested Castaneda Sanchez and turned him over to the Philadelphia Police Department to initiate the extradition process.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
“The quick actions by Customs and Border Protection officers prevented a suspect of seriously heinous charges from fleeing the United States,” said Shawn Polley, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. “CBP’s continued commitment to assist our law enforcement partners in ensures that victims have a voice, and that fugitives of serious crimes have their day in court.”
CBP often works with its interagency law enforcement partners to apprehend dangerous fugitives. On a typical day last year, CBP arrested an average of 41 wanted persons at our nation’s international airports, seaports, and land border crossings.
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.
See what CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" in 2022. Learn more 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.