Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector stopped five illegal immigrants from successfully making their way back into the U.S. The agents arrested two 18th Street gang members, two child molesters, and a man previously charged with felony sexual contact.

In a series of separate incidents, Border Patrol agents kept numerous criminal aliens from successfully re-entering the U.S. after previous removals, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Agents arrested two 18th Street gang members in separate incidents in South Texas. In the first, Rio Grande City Station agents arrested a Honduran man near Roma. Elsewhere, Kingsville Station agents arrested a Salvadoran man about 80 miles inland, near Sarita. In both cases, biometric background investigations revealed the two men were members of the violent 18th Street gang.

In Donna, Texas, Weslaco Station agents apprehended a Mexican national after he illegally crossed the border. When agents investigated the man’s records, they discovered a 2007 conviction in Hidalgo County, Texas, for indecency with a child. He received a three-year prison sentence for his crime.

Further up the highway, agents at the Falfurrias Station came across a Guatemalan national illegally present in the U.S. The agents conducted a background check which revealed a 2004 conviction in Redwood City, California, for sex with a minor. The California court sentenced the criminal alien to 45 days in jail and three years of probation.

Agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station arrested a Salvadoran man after he illegally crossed the border. The agents transferred the Salvadoran national to the station for processing where they learned the man had been arrested by the Saint Paul Police Department in Minnesota for felony sexual contact in the third degree. A court convicted the foreign national to three years in prison and placed him on probation for 15 years.

Agents processed all of the criminal aliens and turned them over to Homeland Security Investigation who will hold them for prosecution on immigration violations. Illegal re-entry after removal is a felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Their previous orders of removal will also be reinstated, officials said.