ICE Detainer Lodged For Man Suspected Of Involvement In LCPS High School Overdoses

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer for a Sterling man accused of selling fentanyl linked to overdoses among high school students.

Isaac Melendez-Carranza, 31, of Sterling, was arrested on Aug. 20 after an investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug and Gang Unit identified him as a suspected dealer connected to overdoses involving students at Sterling’s Park View High School in May.

Online records from Loudoun General District Court list three pending felony cases against Melendez-Carranza. The charges shown in the records are possession with intent to manufacture, sell, give or distribute a Schedule I or II controlled substance; distribution or sale for profit of a Schedule I or II controlled substance; and selling drugs on or near certain properties, including a school or library.

Two possible overdoses among Park View students were being investigated in May, according to Loudoun Now, and Fox 5 reported in 2023 that as many as nine overdoses were suspected that year. LCPS issued a warning in 2024 about fentanyl and other drug use.

ICE announced on Monday that it had issued the detainer and warrant of removal with the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center on the day of Melendez-Carranza’s arrest. The agency says Melendez-Carranza is in the U.S. illegally.

An immigration detainer is a request from ICE to another law enforcement agency to notify ICE before releasing an individual who might be subject to deportation or to hold the individual for up to 48 hours longer than usual to allow ICE to take him or her into custody.

Not every U.S. law enforcement agency cooperates with ICE in this manner. The LCSO has what is called a 287(g) agreement with ICE, empowering some personnel to carry out tasks related to these detainers.

LSCO’s cooperation with ICE has become controversial in the county. Immigration rights activists accuse the office of routinely contacting ICE to report on the immigration status of individuals its deputies encounter, regardless of whether they’re suspects in a crime.

The LCSO maintains that its cooperation with ICE is limited to handing over people who are already incarcerated and routing information sharing, none of which has resulted in an immigration arrest.

In July, Loudoun Now reported, a Reston man who crashed his truck in Sterling while fleeing unmarked police vehicles turned himself in to Loudoun County authorities. After Rutilio Zelaya Franco was arraigned and released on bail, he was detained by Loudoun County deputies and turned over to ICE, the first time someone not already incarcerated was transferred by the county into ICE custody, according to the outlet.