ICE Arrests Man in St. Thomas Using License Plate Surveillance
Immigration enforcement in the U.S. Virgin Islands typically focuses on ports of entry and exit, where Customs and Border Protection screens passengers boarding ferries and flights. However, last Thursday marked a notable departure from this norm when federal agents conducted a street-level operation on St. Thomas.
The incident began at a McDonald’s on Route 313, also known as Rumor Drive, where a green SUV caught the attention of a multi-agency surveillance team. Agents ran the vehicle’s license plate through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles database, identifying the owner as Antonio Elias Ovalle Castro, a Dominican Republic native.
Further investigation revealed that Castro had been deported from Baton Rouge in 2011. He allegedly re-entered the territory illegally in 2023 via St. John, claiming citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis. Records also indicated a history of using fraudulent documents in 2003 and 2010.
ICE agents tracked the SUV and arrested both occupants at the TotalEnergies gas station. The individuals were subsequently transferred to ICE’s detention facility on Crown Mountain in St. Thomas. Castro now faces charges of illegal reentry, with prosecutors seeking pretrial detention due to his classification as a serious flight risk. A hearing is scheduled for today, Monday.
This operation appears to be the first in recent memory where ICE in the Virgin Islands utilized license plate lookups and vehicle surveillance, rather than relying solely on travel checkpoints, to locate and apprehend individuals already within the territory. The move raises questions about whether federal enforcement strategies in the USVI are undergoing a shift.
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