A weeklong immigration enforcement operation across Southwest Florida ended with 500 arrests, ICE announced, including illegal aliens accused of murder, child molestation, cartel ties and assaulting an officer with a Taser.
From Aug. 24 through Aug. 27, ICE agents worked alongside the Florida Highway Patrol, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida National Guard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The most serious case: Whycliff Longin, 28, a Haitian national who had been seeking asylum in the U.S., is accused of breaking into a home in Lehigh Acres on Aug. 27. Just before 3 a.m., deputies responded to a 911 call from a woman who had escaped an attack in which she was strangled and fought to survive before barricading herself in a bedroom, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies found Longin fleeing a neighboring residence and arrested him. Inside a bedroom, they found a second woman dead, with obvious signs of blunt force trauma. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
Longin faces charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, sexual battery and burglary with battery. He is held without bond in the Lee County Jail with an ICE detainer.
“My prayers are with the family of the woman who tragically lost her life, and with the survivor who showed incredible strength in fighting to live,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.
Elsewhere in the operation, agents arrested a suspected Mexican cartel member and a Honduran man accused of molesting two children. Guatemalan national Noe Lux Castro, 24, allegedly grabbed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s Taser and tried to use it against him during a struggle; he now faces charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with and without violence.
Others taken into custody include:
- Olmen Noel Vargas-Mendoza, 40, of Honduras — reentered the U.S. illegally three times, with a criminal history of domestic violence.
- Marlon Rolando Calderon-Castellon, 43, of Honduras — reentered illegally, with a history including battery and illegal drug possession.
- Carlos Humberto Monzon-Cabrera, 53, of Guatemala — history of battery and multiple convictions for driving without a valid license.
- Hermenegildo Andres-Juan, 52, of Guatemala — reentered after a prior deportation on Jan. 10, 2025; history includes DUI, resisting arrest, hit-and-run and public order crimes.
- Armando Coc-Yat, 39, of Guatemala — entered illegally on Dec. 4, 2018; history of DUI and hit-and-run arrests; final removal order issued Nov. 16, 2021.
- Rigoberto Vargas-Resendiz, 52, of Mexico — reentered illegally three times, most recently Dec. 9, 2018; final removal order issued May 26, 2011.
- Daren Ruiz-Mejia, 37, of Venezuela — reentered illegally on April 5, 2016; history includes DUI.
- Melchor Perez-Garcia, 31, of Guatemala — reentered illegally; history includes DUI, resisting an officer and obstruction.
- Samuel Mateo-Francisco, 33, of Guatemala — reentered illegally three times, most recently Oct. 31, 2023.
“The continued success of these weeklong operations is a testament to the power of unity and our shared commitment to community safety,” said Matthew Elliston, ERO Miami interim field office director for ICE. “Working hand-in-hand with our state and local partners, we have successfully removed more than 500 illegal aliens from our streets, ensuring a safer environment for all. Those who choose to knowingly flaunt this nation’s immigration laws will face the consequences, and they will be provided a one-way ticket home.”
ICE says Florida has more sheriff deputizations supporting federal immigration enforcement than any other state, with all 67 county sheriffs and multiple state agencies partnering with the agency.
“Florida continues to demonstrate how to turn important policy into meaningful action,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Florida is the most proactive and effective state in identifying, apprehending and deporting illegal immigrants who have intentionally avoided lawful immigration processes and committed horrific crimes within the United States. We will not sit idly by and allow Floridians to be victimized. Rather, we are executing on a whole-of-government approach that engages federal, state, and local law enforcement to get the job done and keep Florida safe and free.”
