News Releases

ICE agents and U.S. Marshals arrest a fugitive drug trafficker
The Polish national fled his homeland after he was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison

NEW YORK - A Polish national convicted of drug smuggling in his native country was captured today by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force officers in Mahopac, New York. Adam Arasimowicz, 39, was arrested on an international extradition warrant after he failed to report to Polish authorities to serve a six-year prison sentence.

In 2001, a Polish court convicted Arasimowicz for attempting to smuggle more than one kilogram of cocaine into Poland. After his conviction Arasimowicz fled Poland.

"This individual thought he could come to the United States and put his criminal past behind him," said Peter J. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigation in New York. "Mr. Arasimowicz was wrong, it is our duty to locate foreign fugitives like him and return them to their native countries to face justice."

The arrest was the result of an investigation by ICE and the United States Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force, and information provided by the government of Poland and INTERPOL to the United States Department of State, ICE and U.S. Marshal Service.

Arasimowicz, who was born in Urszulin, Poland, will be extradited to his homeland to serve a six-year sentence imposed on him following his conviction for narcotics trafficking.