DUVAL COUNTY — ICE encountered an Indian national who had overstayed his visa by nearly seven years at the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Facility, where he was being held on a felony warrant for trafficking drugs with an estimated street value of over $13 million, the agency announced.
Dipakkumar Ghelani, an illegal alien from India, was encountered by ICE on April 16 after the Florida Highway Patrol arrested him on the trafficking warrant. Ghelani entered the United States on March 18, 2016, on a B-2 nonimmigrant visa valid until May 23, 2019. He overstayed that visa and, during an interview with a designated immigration officer, failed to provide documentation proving his legal presence in the country.
“Ghelani’s arrest shows how valuable our 287(g) partnerships are,” said ICE Director Todd M. Lyons. “The Florida Highway Patrol has consistently proven to be a reliable partner in supporting ICE’s efforts to arrest potentially dangerous criminal illegal aliens like Ghelani, who’s been convicted of providing alcohol to a child and arrested for felony possession of money from selling drugs, being a fugitive from justice, and drug trafficking.”
The 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE to identify and process illegal aliens held in local jails. The Florida Highway Patrol is one of ICE’s 287(g) partners, a designation that enabled the agency to flag Ghelani while he sat in the Duval County facility on state charges.
Ghelani’s criminal history extends beyond the $13 million drug trafficking charge. He has a prior conviction for providing alcohol to a child and has been arrested for felony possession of money from selling drugs and for being a fugitive from justice — a record that ICE cited in characterizing him as a potentially dangerous criminal illegal alien.
ICE said it will make a custody determination following the resolution of Ghelani’s local and state charges.