A federal immigration enforcement office based in St. Paul has removed an illegal immigrant who was wanted in Mexico for rape of a minor.

On July 18, Andres Palacios Pizano, a 25-year-old illegal immigrant, was transferred to Mexican authorities after being picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) St. Paul Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office. A “recidivist offender of U.S. immigration law,” Pizano has been removed from the United States by ICE six times since 2017.

Federal officials had previously removed Pizano from the United States in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

According to ICE, Pizano most recently crossed into the United States some time after June 23, 2023. The Mexican citizen was hiding out in North Dakota and various locations throughout the United States. Eventually, the Enforcement and Removal Operations office in St. Paul picked Pizano up from a detention center in North Dakota.