A murder suspect from Mexico who was arrested in Charlottesville, is now in the custody of Mexican authorities Saturday.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 40-year-old Alfredo Santana Miranda was deported Friday and turned over to Mexican law enforcement at the border in Texas.

A tip led investigators to a hotel in Charlottesville where they arrested Miranda on September 7. He was wanted for a murder that happened in Mexico in February 2006.

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Press Release
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE)

ICE deports Mexican murder suspect captured in Charlottesville

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A Mexican murder suspect captured in Charlottesville, Va., was removed from the United States Friday evening and turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Alfredo Santana Miranda, 40, is wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant in Mexico for the murder of Alcindo Roman Roman on Feb. 12, 2006.

Seven days after the alleged murder, Miranda had attempted to elude inspection to enter the United States from Mexico through the San Ysidro Port of Entry by concealment under the back seat of a vehicle. He was removed by U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers the same day. He then reentered the United States illegally on an unknown date.

ICE officers in Virginia received a tip about Miranda's whereabouts and confirmation from the Mexican Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República) of the active murder warrant.

Miranda was arrested Sept. 7 on a reinstatement of his prior removal order at a hotel in Charlottesville by ICE's fugitive operations teams based in Richmond and Fairfax, Va., for illegally reentering the country after deportation, a felony offense.

"Criminals who seek to escape responsibility for their actions by fleeing to the United States will find no sanctuary in our communities," said M. Yvonne Evans, field office director for ERO Washington. "As this case makes clear, U.S. law enforcement agencies are working closely together to promote public safety and hold criminals accountable – no matter where they commit their crimes."

Miranda was flown via an ICE charter flight to Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, and then escorted by ERO San Antonio's special response team to the Gateway International Bridge Port of Entry in Brownsville, Texas, where he was turned over to the custody of Mexican law enforcement officials. Prior to his removal, Miranda was being held in ICE custody at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Va.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 500 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder.  ERO works with ICE's Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.