April 11, 2025San Diego, CA, United StatesEnforcement and Removal, Organized Crime

ICE removes former Mexican governor convicted of money laundering in the US

SAN DIEGO — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed Tomas Jesus Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 68, a citizen of Mexico wanted by Mexican authorities, April 9.

Enforcement and Removal Operations Harlingen and San Diego deportation officers, in coordination with ERO Mexico City, removed Yarrington, a former governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and former presidential candidate in Mexico, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Yarrington was turned over to Mexican authorities without incident. He is wanted in Mexico for organized crime and transactions with illegally obtained resources.

ICE ERO Mexico City and Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Initiative were instrumental with providing essential documentation regarding Yarrington’s history during his immigrations proceedings that resulted in his removal to Mexico.

On March 25, 2021, Yarrington pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas and was sentenced to serve 108 months imprisonment.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations Brownsville special agents investigated the case with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas handled the prosecution.

According to court documents, Yarrington accepted bribes from individuals and private companies in Mexico to do business with the state of Tamaulipas while he served as governor. Yarrington was in that position from 1999 to 2005. He was also an Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate for the president of Mexico in 2005. Yarrington used the bribery money he received while governor to purchase properties in the U.S. He had nominee buyers buy property in the U.S. to hide his ownership of the properties and the illegal bribery money used to purchase them. Yarrington laundered his illegally obtained bribe money in the United States by purchasing beachfront condominiums, large estates, commercial developments, airplanes and luxury vehicles.

In April 2017, authorities captured Yarrington in Italy while he was traveling under an assumed name and false passport. He was taken into custody on a provisional arrest warrant based on the indictment returned in May 2013. Although Yarrington contested extradition, Italian authorities eventually authorized his extradition to the U.S. He arrived in April 2018. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs secured the extradition from Italy to the United States.

ICE ERO officers took custody of Yarrington from the Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Thomson in Thomson, Illinois, July 3, 2024, and transferred him to ICE custody where he continued his immigration proceedings.

On Feb. 27, an immigration judge with the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Yarrington removed. He waived his right to appeal.

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Updated: 04/14/2025