A Dominican woman previously convicted of dealing deadly opioids wept when was arrested last week by federal law enforcement.
Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, 36, was taken into custody in Philadelphia thanks to a joint operation undertaken by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
ICE issued Basora-Gonzalez, who was first deported more than four years ago, a notice of intent to reinstate a final order of removal on March 12.
On that same day, the agency obtained an arrest warrant and a criminal complaint from a US magistrate judge before turning her over to the US Marshals.
She will be remaining in federal custody pending charges for reentry after deportation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Basora-Gonzalez’s first brush with the law came in June 2019, when the Drug Enforcement Administration charged her with attempted possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Court records show two other men were charged with the same crime along with her, with one of them also later being convicted of possession with the intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.
On March 12, 2020, Basora-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the fentanyl charges and was sentenced to 12 months in prison and four years of supervised release.
Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, 36, is pictured during her arrest on March 12 for illegally reentering the United States after she was deported in March 2020
Basora-Gonzalez was seen weeping throughout her arrest. She remains in federal custody as her case moves through court
Before she could serve out her full sentence, ICE lodged an immigration detainer and deported her back to the Dominican Republic on October 6, 2020.
It’s unclear when she returned to the United States, but according to an affidavit filed with the court, a confidential source let ICE know she was back in the country on March 7, 2025.
ICE deportation officer Alec Brown said this source told him that Basora-Gonzalez worked as a cook at La Tierra Del Caribe Restaurant in North Philadelphia and arrived there at around 8am every day.
ICE agents approached her after confirming she matched the physical description provided by the source, according to the affidavit.
They then arrested her and compared her fingerprints to the ones on file for her in the FBI database, and they matched.
Basora-Gonzalez’s court appointed attorney said she shouldn’t be detained prior to her trial, arguing that the illegal reentry charge did not mean she was a flight risk.
In a Monday filing, the government responded by saying that her prior drug trafficking convictions ‘cements the conclusion that pretrial detention is required here.’
The government also mentioned that Basora-Gonzalez told ICE that she has no spouse, children or any other sort of community ties in Philadelphia.
‘This case is appropriate for detention…because of the defendant’s criminal record, lack of community ties, status as an irremediable flight risk, and lack of regard for prior court orders,’ prosecutors wrote.
