A twice-deported illegal alien from Honduras wanted for murder abroad is in custody following an arrest in Michigan as part of Operation Take Back America.
Michael Jamblyck Costly Bennett, 30, was arraigned on a charge of illegal re-entry in federal court in Detroit on Thursday, when he was detained pending further court proceedings.
“This apprehension underscores the critical nature of our mission. We will enforce our immigration law at and beyond our borders to remove dangerous foreign nationals who attempt to hide within our communities,” Acting Chief Patrol Agent Javier Geronimo, Jr. said in a statement on Friday.
“Our agents build strong law enforcement partnerships and exercise the utmost of vigilance on duty while utilizing every tool at our disposal to ensure that violent criminals – regardless of where they originate – are held accountable and prevented from threatening the safety of the American public,” he said.
Bennett was arrested during a traffic stop in Taylor, where a records check revealed he was in the U.S. illegally and wanted for murder abroad, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Agents also discovered fraudulent documents in his possession, including counterfeit Social Security and permanent resident cards,” the office reports. “Bennet had been removed from the United States twice before.”
The arrest is among the latest in the Western District of Michigan as part of Operation Take Back America, “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
Other recent Michigan arrests from that operation include Mexican national Jose Manuel Cazarez-Pulido, 33, who was arraigned July 8 on charges of open alcohol in a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, and disobeying red traffic signal.
Jose Manuel Cazarez-Pulido, 33, native and citizen of Mexico, has been charged for illegally re-entering the U.S. after having been previously removed, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon for @USAO_MIE announced yesterday.
This illegal alien was driving a Chrysler Town and Country van… pic.twitter.com/k9euE5aOc2
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) July 10, 2026
Cazarez-Pulido, who was previously deported, was driving a minivan when he smashed into a motorcycle in Waterford, leaving a 71-year-old woman and 64-year-old man in critical condition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Following the accident, Waterford Police searched Cazarez-Pulido’s vehicle and found an open Budweiser beer bottle on the passenger floorboard,” the office wrote in an announcement. “According to the officers on the scene, Cazarez-Pulido did not appear intoxicated.”
Other cases in the Eastern District of Michigan this month include Sefton Stewart, who was extradited to west Michigan to face charges for his alleged role in a nationwide fraud scheme involving at least $3.4 million from more than 25 victims.
Stewart pleaded guilty on July 1, and now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and deportation after his sentence is complete.
Two Columbian nationals, Carolos Andres Rueda Ipia and Manuel Augusto Munoz Orozco were also extradited to Grand Rapids to face charges for an alleged conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in Columbia officials believe was bound for the U.S.
“We worked with our international law enforcement partners to extradite these two men to face justice here because we want to send this message: if you send drugs into our community, we will come for you no matter where you are,” U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said in a statement.
Arrests of illegal immigrants hit a record high in June, when 43,138 were booked into detention by federal agents, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.
Statistics released by ICE in mid-July show the June bookings eclipse a previous high of 42,107 in December, and 41,610 in October, when federal officials ramped up Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, and Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, respectively.
Arrests through July 11 stood at 17,525, suggesting the total for July could set another record.
The arrests coincide with record low border crossings.
With three months of figures remaining in FY 2026, U.S. Customs and Burder Protection has encountered just 103,028 at the U.S.-Mexico border, compared to 443,671 in FY2025, 2.1 million in FY2024, and 2.4 million in FY2023, CPB data shows.
“Our previously wide open borders have been transformed into the most secure borders in the history of our country, with zero illegal aliens being admitted to the United States in the past 14 months. That is zero,” President Donald Trump said during a prime time address last month. “Nobody thought it was possible. We had the worst border in the history of our country, and now we have the best.”
In Michigan, the largest deportation effort in U.S. history has removed plenty of scammers, killers, rapists, gang members, and child molesters.
DHS’ “Worst of the Worst” database lists 285 illegal immigrants removed from the Great Lakes State with prior convictions for a wide array of heinous crimes.
They include criminals from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Israel, Cuba, Laos, Iraq, Columbia, Canada, Nigeria, China, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Burma, Ukraine, Laos, El Salvador, Sudan, Romania, Peru, Pakistan, Ecuador, Somalia, Vietnam, Jordan, Thailand, Ghana, Poland, Cambodia, Iran, India, Spain, Pakistan, Eritrea, Albania, the Ivory Coast, Dominican Republic of the Congo, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jamaica, Malaysia, and Bhutan.
Prior convictions for those removed involve sex assaults, prostituting a minor, cocaine smuggling, DUIs, aggravated assaults, fraud, drug trafficking, hit and runs, lascivious acts with a minor, burglary, sex offenses, immigration fraud, homicide, smuggling aliens, carrying a concealed weapon, identity theft, property damage, resisting police, drug sales, racketeering, domestic violence, negligent manslaughter, flight to avoid prosecution, resisting police, amphetamine sales, cruelty toward a child, drug possession, fondling a child, possession of stolen property, counterfeiting, obstructing justice, trespassing, shoplifting, robbery, failure to register as a sex offender, prostitution, willful homicide, forceable purse snatching, probation violations, weapon trafficking, possession of burglary tools, rape, sodomy, manufacturing methamphetamines, sexual exploitation of a minor, extortion, kidnapping, computer fraud, intimidation, and other offenses.
