ICE arrests previously deported criminal who was among the agency's 10 most wanted

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston has arrested Friendly Grandoit, a previously deported criminal who had been listed among the agency's ten most wanted individuals.

"According to charging documents, in 2005 Grandoit was encountered in pre-trial detention by immigration officials while pending trial on drug distribution charges in Middlesex County," ICE reported.

Friendly Grandoit had been deported from the U.S. to Haiti in 2008 after serving time in connection with a 2006 conviction for trafficking in a controlled substance.

The Haitian citizen later reentered America unlawfully and in September 2019 was arrested and charged for cocaine distribution, identity fraud and operating with a suspended license, but then in April of last year he was released after posting bail. Even though ICE had lodged a detainer with the jail, the agency did not receive any notification.

The 42-year-old man was arrested again on March 19 and has been slapped with a charge of illegal reentry following deportation.

"The men and women of ERO Boston can be very proud of this arrest, which has removed an aggravated felon and known narcotics trafficker from our streets," ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement.