DHS Says 4 Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Indiana Child Solicitation Sting

Four of the 11 men arrested in an Indiana police operation targeting people seeking sexual encounters with minors were in the country illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to Fox News, authorities said the suspects believed they were communicating online with underage girls and traveled to arranged meetings expecting sexual encounters. Instead, they encountered undercover detectives.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed detainer requests against all four men, DHS said.

The suspects were identified as El Hadji Babacar Ndiaye of Senegal, Lucky Philip Udoudo of Nigeria, Filomeno Ricardo Flores Marin of Mexico and David Josue Gomez-Posada of El Salvador.

According to DHS, Ndiaye was apprehended and released at the southern border in Lukeville, Arizona, in September 2023. Udoudo allegedly entered the United States as a “got-away,” while Marin entered the country illegally through Arizona in 2002.

Gomez-Posada allegedly entered the U.S. illegally in 2017 as a juvenile.

The four men face separate criminal allegations stemming from the operation. Marin is charged with two sex offenses, along with molestation of a minor and enticement of a minor for indecent purposes.

Marin also has a previous arrest for stolen property. DHS said ICE arrested him in January 2019 while he was assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration with an operation in Indianapolis, but he was released on bond in March of that year.

Udoudo faces charges of child solicitation and sexual misconduct with a minor. Gomez-Posada and Ndiaye are each charged with child solicitation.

The criminal charges are allegations, and the defendants are entitled to due process.

“We are calling on Indiana to honor our detainers,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News. “All of their claims will be heard by an immigration judge, and they will receive due process.”

The department said the Trump administration intends to pursue immigration enforcement against individuals who are arrested while unlawfully present in the country.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” the DHS spokesperson said.

DHS also used the arrests to highlight its broader argument that cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement can help identify and remove criminal offenders who are in the country illegally.

The agency pointed to other enforcement efforts, including a two-week operation in West Virginia that resulted in 650 arrests and immigration enforcement activity in Florida that DHS said produced 40,000 arrests.