Border Patrol arrests two dangerous men in Calexico

CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY)- A gang member and a convicted sex offender were arrested Wednesday after entering the U.S. illegally, agents say.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) say agents assigned to the Calexico station encountered a man suspected of illegally entering the U.S. half a mile east of the Calexico Downtown Port of Entry.

The man was arrested and was transported to the station for immigration and criminal history screening.

Record checks revealed the man as 21-year-old David De Jesus Leiva Arevalo, a Salvadorian national who is a self-admitted Mara Salvatrucha MS 13 gang member with a criminal history.

Leiva is being held in federal custody pending criminal prosecution.

That same night, another man was arrested approximately 18 miles east of the border. After agents checked his history, they revealed the man as 48-year-old Juan Carlos Castanon, a Mexican national who was convicted on May 1990 for “Lewd or Lascivious Acts W/Child Under 14” out of Santa Clara. 

The man was sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation for his conviction, CBP says.

Castanon is being held in federal custody pending criminal prosecution.