Darwin Rivas/Venezuela/Drug Trafficking

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Darwin Rivas in Oxford, Wisconsin. The Venezuela national — in the country illegally — faces charges of drug trafficking.

Drug trafficking and distribution charges carry mandatory minimum sentences in the federal system and are treated as priority enforcement matters by both state and federal law enforcement. For illegal aliens, a trafficking arrest also triggers an automatic immigration removal proceeding that moves forward independently of the criminal case. Rivas’s case is expected to proceed simultaneously in both criminal and immigration courts.

Rivas is currently in federal immigration custody awaiting a hearing before a Department of Justice immigration judge, which will determine whether removal to Venezuela is ordered.