Isaac Melendez-Carranza, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested last week on fentanyl distribution charges tied to student overdoses at a Virginia high school.
Melendez-Carranza, 31, was taken into custody on Aug. 20 and charged with distributing fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a school, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He is being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Virginia.
“ICE lodged a detainer on August 20 for Isaac Melendez-Carranza, an illegal alien from El Salvador, with the Loudoun County Jail,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
An immigration judge had issued Melendez-Carranza a final order of removal on July 18, 2024, DHS records show. Less than a month later, on Aug. 16, 2024, he was encountered in Sterling, Virginia, but no action was taken by immigration authorities. The department pointed to the Biden administration for the failure to act on the outstanding removal order.
US Border Patrol first arrested Melendez-Carranza near Hebbronville, Texas, on May 3, 2016, after he illegally crossed the Rio Grande. He was released on bond on July 13, 2016, and remained in the country despite the 2024 deportation order.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office identified him as a suspected drug dealer connected to overdoses involving Park View High School students in May. During a search of his home, deputies seized about 100 pills and approximately $1,000 in cash.
Multiple students were hospitalized following suspected overdoses at Park View High School in May. Loudoun County Public Schools confirmed at the time that two students suffered nonfatal suspected overdoses during school hours, and additional students were taken to a local hospital for evaluation after exhibiting symptoms. The school system noted it was unclear whether the incidents were connected and could not immediately confirm whether controlled substances were involved.
Sheriff Mike Chapman called the case particularly alarming because the illicit drugs were reaching local students.
“He’s here illegally,” Chapman said. “I think he came in about 10 years ago. We shouldn’t be here and maybe if he wasn’t here this would not have happened, so we take that quite seriously. There is a detainer on him from ICE, so once he is done with his charges here, he will be released to ICE.”
The sheriff’s office said more arrests are possible but provided no timetable. Chapman confirmed ICE placed a detainer on Melendez-Carranza, who will be transferred to federal immigration authorities after his local criminal charges are resolved.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, ICE is targeting the worst of the worst. Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.,” DHS said in its statement.
In the viral moment that preceded this arrest, multiple students at Park View High School in Loudoun County were hospitalized in May following suspected overdoses during school hours, prompting a law enforcement investigation that eventually led to Melendez-Carranza. The district confirmed two nonfatal suspected overdoses and said additional students showed symptoms requiring hospital evaluation, though officials initially could not confirm whether controlled substances were involved or whether the incidents were linked.
Melendez-Carranza will face local criminal charges before being transferred to ICE custody under the detainer.