Traffic stop turns into a crash
ICE says Felipe Linares de Oliveira Dell Aquilla, a Brazilian illegal immigrant known as “Don,” was arrested June 5 in Mooresville, North Carolina, after officers tried to stop his vehicle and he allegedly took off. Law enforcement says the stop turned into a pursuit that ended when Dell Aquilla crashed into stopped traffic and then tried to run on foot. The whole scene had the kind of efficiency only government can summon once a car chase is already underway. He was later booked into a county jail on a state felony charge of fleeing to elude arrest.
Authorities link him to violent groups in Brazil
Federal officials say Dell Aquilla previously served as a commander in Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, and Comando Vermelho, or CV, two Brazil-based criminal groups recently labeled Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration. DHS says he was also wanted in Brazil on charges of criminal association and extortion and had been preparing to leave the United States for Mexico. ICE and Homeland Security Investigations say the arrest shows why interior enforcement still matters, since people who enter at unknown dates and unknown locations rarely arrive with a tidy explanation and a warm press release.
Weapons, phones and a troubling family claim
Investigators say intelligence showed Dell Aquilla was holding his wife against her will while he planned his escape to Mexico. They later interviewed her, and authorities say she confirmed she had been held against her will. A search of the vehicle turned up multiple cellphones, laptops, cash and a 9 mm handgun. HSI says it is pursuing additional charges of kidnapping and being an alien in possession of a firearm, and ICE has lodged a detainer. Several agencies, including HSI Greensboro, HSI Charlotte, HSI New England, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office and the Mooresville Police Department, took part in the operation.
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