A Dominican drug dealer who had been deported for fentanyl trafficking was captured in tears during her arrest in the US.
Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, 36, was emotional as she was apprehended by agents in Philadelphia, as per Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A federal warrant for her arrest was issued on the same day notice of reinstating her removal order was to be served by a US magistrate judge.
Basora-Gonzalez will be held in federal custody for re-entry after deportation charges.
Photos released by ICE show the convicted drug dealer in tears as she is taken away in handcuffs.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia acting Field Office Director Brian McShane stated, “The apprehension of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez demonstrates our commitment to protecting our communities from criminal aliens involved in serious illegal activities that endanger public safety.”
Basora-Gonzalez, who was living illegally in the US, was initially arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Pennsylvania in June 2019 for possession of 40 grams or more of fentanyl and aiding and abetting.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to confinement and supervised release but was deported to the Dominican Republic by ICE in October 2020 before serving her sentence.
However, she illegally re-entered the US a second time at an undisclosed date.
ICE discovered her return after a confidential source reported it on March 7, 2025, as per an affidavit from the Daily Mail.
She was arrested outside her job at La Tierra Del Caribe Restaurant in North Philadelphia, where she worked as a cook, and her identity was confirmed through the FBI fingerprint database.
Her court-appointed attorney argued against her detention before trial, stating that being charged with illegal re-entry did not make her a flight risk.
The government disagreed, citing her previous conviction as the reason for pretrial detention.
