ICE Detroit removes suspected war criminal and former high-ranking coup leader to Sierra Leone

DETROIT — ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations removed suspected war criminal and criminal illegal alien Charles Emile Mbayo from the United States to Sierra Leone Aug. 20. Mbayo is a former high-ranking member of the National Provisioning Ruling Council, a military junta that ruled Sierra Leone after overthrowing President Joseph Momoh in a coup on April 29, 1992.

Following the coup, the National Provisioning Ruling Council struggled to control Sierra Leone against invasion from the Revolutionary United Front, and news of coup plots spread across the capital of Freetown. On Dec. 29, 1992, the National Provisioning Ruling Council extrajudicially killed approximately 29 victims, including former government officials and others accused of planning a coup against the regime. Victims who were not already detained in prison were arrested; several were tortured, and all were summarily executed and their bodies buried in a mass grave.

Following several changes in government, Mbayo entered the United States on Jan. 9, 1998, on an F-1 student visa. He later applied to become a permanent resident, but his application was denied in July 2023.

“Our officers continue to effect the removal of alleged human rights violators to their home country,” said ERO Detroit Field Office Director Kevin Raycraft. “ERO officers are committed to public safety and national security and removing this individual from the United States serves both those priorities.”

Mbayo has been in ICE custody since ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested him on June 30, 2025.

“HSI is committed to ensuring that there is no safe haven in the United States for those tied to these horrific crimes,” said HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey. “We will continue to investigate these allegations with the assistance of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center to seek both accountability and justice in these cases.”

The HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the U.S., including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. Since 2003, the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center has issued more than 79,000 lookouts for potential perpetrators of human rights abuses and stopped over 390 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S.

Members of the public who have information about potential former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE or the online tip form. They can also email HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)