The US Department of Justice (DOJ) says it has secured the extradition of 14 fugitives from 10 countries, including a 41-year-old ‘Nigerian fraudster,’ alleged murderers, drug traffickers, cyber criminals, and an MS-13 gang leader.
The fugitives, wanted for crimes across multiple US states, were extradited in March following extensive coordination between the DOJ and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
“The dedicated, persistent work of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs with foreign partners resulted in the extradition of fugitives wanted in the United States for violent crimes,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.
Galeotti added, “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue and bring to justice transnational criminals and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad.”
Among those extradited was 41-year-old Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, a Nigerian national accused of operating an inheritance fraud scheme targeting elderly US citizens.
He was extradited from the United Kingdom to face charges in the Southern District of Florida.
Other high-profile extraditions include 28-year-old Eswin Mejia, a Honduras national who was extradited to Nebraska for vehicular homicide in the 2016 killing of 21-year-old Sarah Root; and 48-year-old Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, a Guatemala national who is the alleged leader of an alien smuggling operation, extradited to Texas for his role in the 2022 San Antonio mass casualty incident that left 53 migrants dead.
A 55-year-old Guatemalan national, Moises Humberto Rivera Luna, an alleged MS-13 gang leader, has been extradited to Washington, D.C., on racketeering charges. Meanwhile, 36-year-old Carlos Espino Farfan, a Spanish national, was extradited to Utah for the alleged rape and sodomy of a child.
Two former Colombian Navy officers, 54-year-old Jair Alberto Alvarez Valenzuela and 32-year-old Luis Carlos Diaz Martinez, were extradited to Florida for allegedly aiding drug traffickers. Additionally, 61-year-old Mexican national Louie Hernandez was extradited to Washington State on murder charges related to the fatal shooting of his estranged partner in February 2024.
In separate cases, 37-year-old Mexican national Juan Ramirez was extradited to California for a 2013 fatal stabbing, while 20-year-old Irish national Solomon Sincler Gheorghe was extradited from France to North Carolina for allegedly causing a fatal crash while impaired.
Furthermore, 51-year-old Rostislav Panev, a Russian-Israeli citizen and alleged developer for the LockBit ransomware group, was extradited to New Jersey.
Other extraditions include 24-year-old Dominican Republic citizen Marco Tulio Fernandez-Rodriguez, who was sent to New York for his alleged role in a fatal armed robbery, and 39-year-old Bikramjit Ahluwalia, a British-UAE dual citizen extradited from Spain to North Carolina for allegedly running a large-scale tech support fraud scheme.
Additionally, 60-year-old Danhong “Jean” Chen, a former immigration attorney from San Jose, California, was extradited from the Kyrgyz Republic for visa fraud linked to the EB-5 visa programme.
The DOJ said the extraditions were made possible through collaboration between US authorities and law enforcement agencies in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The DOJ’s Office of International Affairs and the US Marshals Service played critical roles in securing these transfers.
The DOJ emphasised that it remains committed to pursuing and prosecuting transnational criminals responsible for crimes affecting the US.
“These extraditions send a clear message that fugitives will be held accountable, no matter where they hide,” Galeotti stated.
