BALTIMORE, United States (CMC) – A Jamaican youth convicted of carrying a loaded illegal gun in Maryland is now in the custody of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE said deportation officers from the Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Programme took the 19-year-old into custody at his residence in Hyattsville, Maryland, and served him with papers ordering him to appear before an immigration judge.

“This Jamaican blatantly ignored Maryland’s gun laws by carrying a loaded handgun in public,” said Darius Reeves, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore.

“Had we not apprehended him, he could have easily wreaked havoc on the residents of Maryland. ERO Baltimore will continue to exhaust our resources to provide safe communities for the people of Maryland,” he added.

ICE said the unidentified Jamaican legally entered the United States in May 2011 at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, and was arrested and charged with possessing a loaded firearm on February 28 this year.

On June 29 the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County in Upper Marlboro convicted the Jamaican and sentenced him to 23 months in jail followed by three years of supervised probation.