Inside Florida’s 500-arrest ICE sweep: Murder suspect, alleged child molester and cartel member

A massive immigration enforcement operation in Southwest Florida resulted in 500 arrests — and federal officials are now highlighting some of the people swept up in it.

ICE conducted the operation in the Fort Myers area from Aug. 24 through Aug. 27 alongside the Florida Highway Patrol, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Florida National Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Customs and Border Protection and other agencies.

ICE announced the 500-arrest total Sept. 9. The agency says those arrested included people with final removal orders, repeat immigration violators, and people with criminal histories involving domestic violence, drugs, DUI, assault, and sex and violent crimes.

One of the most serious cases involved was Whycliff Longin, 28, a Haitian national who had been seeking asylum in the United States. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested Longin after responding to a Lehigh Acres home on Aug. 27. Authorities said one woman escaped an attack after being strangled and barricaded herself inside a bedroom.

Deputies subsequently found another woman dead in a neighboring residence with signs of blunt-force trauma. Longin faces charges including second-degree murder, attempted murder, sexual battery and burglary with battery. He is being held without bond and has an ICE detainer.

Elsewhere during the operation, ICE and the Florida Highway Patrol arrested a suspected Mexican cartel member and a Honduran national accused of molesting two children, according to ICE. Federal officials did not identify either man in the agency’s announcement.

Then there was Noe Lux Castro.

ICE says the Guatemalan national fought with officers during his arrest, took a Florida trooper’s Taser and attempted to use it against the trooper. Castro was arrested on charges including resisting an officer with violence and obstructing law enforcement.

The operation also netted several people ICE says had repeatedly entered the United States after previously being removed. Olmen Noel Vargas-Mendoza, a Honduran national with a history of domestic violence, allegedly reentered the country three times. Rigoberto Vargas-Resendiz, a Mexican national, also allegedly reentered three times despite having received a final removal order in 2011.

ICE identified other arrestees with histories involving battery, illegal drug possession, DUI, hit-and-run, and resisting arrest.

“The continued success of these weeklong operations is a testament to the power of unity and our shared commitment to community safety,” ICE Miami interim field office director Matthew Elliston said when the results were announced.

Florida has aggressively expanded its cooperation with federal immigration authorities. According to ICE, all 67 Florida county sheriffs participate in immigration-enforcement partnerships, along with multiple state agencies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the operation demonstrated Florida’s “whole-of-government approach” to immigration enforcement. “We will not sit idly by and allow Floridians to be victimized,” DeSantis said.