FARGO — A man booked into the Cass County Jail for stealing a vehicle has been turned over to authorities in Mexico where he was wanted for drug trafficking, U.S. officials announced Monday, April 10.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, learned Sept. 21 that Benito Sanchez-Jimenez, 41, was in the Cass County Jail after he was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft.
Cass County Jail officials released Sanchez-Jimenez, who is not a U.S. citizen, to federal authorities on Oct. 4. He was transferred to the Kandiyohi County Jail in Willmar, Minnesota, on Oct. 6 for immigration proceedings. On Jan. 26, an immigration judge ordered his removal from the U.S.
ICE flew Sanchez-Jimenez from the Twin Cities to Arizona on April 5. The next day, federal officials drove him to the Nogales, Arizona, port of entry, where Mexican authorities took custody of him.
Sanchez-Jimenez unlawfully entered the U.S. in 2001 and again in 2007, both times crossing into Texas, according to ICE. He legally entered the U.S. in 2021 but failed to comply with the terms of his admission, ICE said.
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