United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Nigerian national, Rapheal Oludemilade Adebowale, during an enforcement operation targeting undocumented migrants.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest on Tuesday in a post on its official X account, identifying Adebowale as one of three foreign nationals detained during the operation.
According to the department, Adebowale was arrested in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and has previous convictions for larceny and money laundering.
The department described him as a “criminal illegal alien from Nigeria” but did not provide details of the convictions, including when they occurred, the sentences imposed or the circumstances surrounding the offences.
It also did not disclose the specific immigration allegations against Adebowale or state whether he had any pending court proceedings related to his detention.
Adebowale was arrested alongside Jawwad Ali Ahmed, a Pakistani national, and Alexandre Esdras Pandolfi-Soares, a Brazilian national.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ahmed had previously been convicted of what it described as “lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old” in Sacramento, California.
Pandolfi-Soares, according to the department, had been convicted of what it termed “forcible sexual abuse” in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Announcing the arrests, the department said ICE had detained “more pedophiles, sexual predators, drug traffickers, and other dangerous criminals” as part of its immigration enforcement operations.
The department also reiterated the Trump administration’s position on undocumented immigration, stating that “Illegal aliens are NOT welcome in our nation.”
Adebowale’s arrest comes amid intensified immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Separately, the US Department of Justice recently announced charges against three Nigerians and 13 other foreign nationals over alleged election-related offences, including illegal voting and making false claims of US citizenship.
The Nigerians named in that case were Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56; Helen Sayen Adams, 67; and Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, 27.
The two cases are separate, and there was no indication in the announcements that Adebowale was connected to the election-related prosecutions.
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