Illegal immigrants, 89 and 73, accused of armed drug trafficking decades after sneaking into US
Two illegal immigrants from Cuba with criminal records are behind bars after police say they were selling drugs and had stolen guns.
After their arrests, Cesar Valdes, 89, and Magdaleno Medina, 73, were found to have been in the country illegally – for more than 45 years.
Their recent trouble began after the Miami Police Department sent an undercover officer to purchase $60 worth of cocaine from Medina on Aug. 19, according to court records.
Magdaleno Medina, 73, is believed to have been in the United States illegally for 46 years and now faces a slew of charges tied to armed drug trafficking. (Miami-Dade Corrections)
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After Medina allegedly sold the officer the drug, police returned to the "trailer" on Sept. 9 with a narcotics search warrant. They found Valdes there, too.
In their search, officers said they found dozens of clear bags of cocaine and marijuana, ammunition, stolen firearms and more than $4,800.
The men entered the country without inspection near Key West, Florida, on different days in May 1980, an ICE spokesman told Fox News Digital.
Medina has four prior felony convictions in the United States for cocaine smuggling, drug possession and drug trafficking, an ICE spokesman said. An immigration judge issued him a final order of exclusion July 24, 1996.
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Final orders of exclusion were decisions made by immigration judges and issued before April 1997. That’s when a new system of removal proceedings began, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The details of Medina’s prior arrests and convictions were unavailable. It was unclear whether he spent any time in jail.
Cesar Valdes, 89, is believed to have been in the United States illegally for 46 years and now faces a slew of charges connected to armed drug trafficking. (Miami-Dade Corrections)
Valdes has a record of previous charges in Miami-Dade County, including cocaine possession and probation violation in the 1980s and 1990s. It was unclear whether he spent any time in jail.
Valdes was issued a final order of exclusion by an immigration judge on March 10, 1993.
Medina currently faces eight felony charges, including possession of cocaine with the intent to sell, cocaine trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Valdes is facing five similar drug- and firearm-related felony charges.
The two illegal immigrants face criminal charges in Miami. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
Both men are being held in a Miami jail with ICE detainers.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences," an ICE spokesman told Fox News Digital in an email.
"Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you."
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Medina and Cesar have pleaded not guilty to their charges in Miami-Dade County. The attorney representing both men declined to comment on their cases.
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