NEW YORK — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed a Salvadoran national Friday who is wanted in his home country on sexual assault charges.

Elvis Recinos-Agreda, 39, was removed from the country via an ICE Air Operations Charter flight and transferred into the custody of Salvadoran authorities upon arrival to the capital of San Salvador.

“Recinos-Agreda sought refuge within our communities to avoid facing sexual assault charges in El Salvador,” said Thomas Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “ICE has not wavered in its commitment to keeping our neighborhoods safe by arresting and removing those criminal aliens who seek to hide among the law-abiding residents of this great city.”

According to an Interpol Red Notice, Recinos-Agreda is wanted by law enforcement authorities in El Salvador on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a disabled minor, pornography, sexual harassment, aggravated rape, sexual harassment, indecent exposure, other sexual assaults and continuous offenses.

In October 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Recinos-Agreda in Hildalgo, Texas, on immigration charges. He was released later that month on an order of recognizance.

In April 2017, Interpol-El Salvador issued a Red Notice for Recinos-Agreda for the various sex charges. In June 2017, ERO headquarters in Washington D.C. advised ERO New York about the Interpol Red Notice and that he was residing in the New York City metropolitan area. In August 2017, Recinos-Agreda was ordered removed in absentia by an immigration judge in New York. ERO deportation officers arrested him Nov. 22, 2017, pursuant to the order.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 1,700 foreign fugitives from the United States who were sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.