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In this photo, posted to social media on March 13, 2025, the FBI Denver office posted that the agency had helped arrest the man pictured on a federal warrant. The FBI alleges that the man has a violent criminal history and is a foreign national believed to be a member of a drug cartel that has been designated a terrorist organization by the Trump Administration. The man's name and exact charges levied against him were not immediately made public by the bureau. 

 Courtesy of FBI Denver

The Federal Bureau of Investigation out of Denver arrested a "foreign national" on Thursday in Colorado Springs believed to be a member of a cartel that was recently named a foreign terrorist organization.

According to the FBI, the man — later identified as Mexican national Omar Valdez-Lerma — had a federal warrant out for illegal reentry after deportation. 

In addition to the warrant, FBI believes he may have cartel involvement and alleges he has a violent criminal history dating back to 2006. He was also charged with illegal re-entry after deportation back in 2018 and 2021. 

Local agencies assisted in the arrest including the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Colorado Springs police and Pueblo police.

Colorado Springs Police Department policy states nothing prohibits the department from sharing information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any time or assisting federal immigration authorities with warrant executions issued by a federal judge or magistrate.  

In a March. 7 news release, El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal confirmed he is working with federal partners. Within that same news release, the sheriff’s office announced that local ICE officials arrested several Tren de Aragua gang members in El Paso County. 

The Sheriff's Office referred all requests for additional details such as names, charges and the location of the arrests to U.S. immigration officials. Immigration officials did not immediately respond to a media inquiry.

Shortly after the March 7 news release, the immigration officials announced they had arrested one alleged Tren de Aragua gang member in Colorado Springs on March 5, according to a post on X. Inquiries seeking to confirm additional arrests went unanswered.

Tren de Aragua gang member arrested in Colorado Springs, ICE reports