The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a drug trafficker in Virginia last week, who was allegedly carrying drugs including fentanyl, narcotics, and cocaine, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Monday, May 11.
On May 4, ICE agents arrested Eduardo Perez-Legra from Cuba in Newport News, Virginia. When they searched him, authorities seized 19.5 grams of cocaine, 101 oxycodone pills, and 5 fentanyl pills. They also found 27 individually packaged suboxone sublingual films.
According to DHS, Perez-Legra already had four felony convictions for dr*g trafficking in addition to two other felony convictions for possessing c*caine.
Another day, another criminal illegal alien ARRESTED in @GovernorVA’s sanctuary Virginia.
Eduardo Perez-Legra is a criminal illegal alien from Cuba whose rap sheet includes FOUR felony convictions for drug trafficking.
Criminals CONTINUE to flock to sanctuary Virginia because… https://t.co/GgoDxngaPw pic.twitter.com/365DCAT7Wy
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 12, 2026
The DHS said that Perez-Legra became a green card holder in 2004. But, the Department said in its press release, that the Cuban national lost his green card after his felony conviction in 2011.
In the statement, the DHS goes on to blame former President Barack Obama’s administration for releasing Perez-Legra in 2012, after the then-Department of Justice Immigration Judge issued a final removal order on May 15 that year.
DHS alleged that Virginia had become a “hotbed of illegal alien crime” under the leadership of Governor Spanberger, who took office in January this year.
“Another day, another criminal illegal alien arrested in Governor Abigail Spanberger’s sanctuary Virginia. This criminal illegal alien from Cuba was previously convicted of dr*g trafficking,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. “When ICE arrested him on May 4, he was in possession of fentanyl, narcotics, and c*caine.”
Bis then blamed the Democratic Governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, accusing her of “protecting” illegal immigrants in the state. “Virginia is a hotbed for criminal illegal alien crime. Criminals flock to sanctuary Virginia because they know Governor Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians will protect them,” the Acting Assistant Secretary said.
DHS further noted that Spanberger signed executive orders banning state cooperation with ICE. She also directed several state departments and the Virginia State Police to end all Section 287(g) agreements. Under Section 287(g) programs, ICE can “delegate state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE’s direction and oversight.” In April 2026, Fox News reported that after assuming the role of Governor, Spanberger “joined a handful of Democratic governors like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker who have made it harder for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.” In the press release about Perez-Legra’s arrest, DHS also listed several recent ICE arrests in Virginia.
This includes the arrest of Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia from Guatemala, and the arrest of an El Salvador national named Josue Saul Garcia-Lopez.
Governor Abigail Spanberger’s office has not commented on the DHS’s allegations yet.
