A Cuban citizen identified as William Torres Gamboa was added this Wednesday to the "Worst of the Worst" list by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, after being arrested by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to an official statement from DHS.
Torres Gamboa has a record of prior convictions for soliciting the commission of first-degree murder and for possession of cocaine, two of the most serious offenses that have emerged in the statements from the program related to Cuban citizens.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, signed the statement and described the operation with these words: "Every day, the brave men and women of ICE arrest and deport illegal aliens from American communities. Just yesterday, ICE arrested child abusers, murder-for-hire masterminds, violent offenders, and other dangerous illegal aliens."
The charge of soliciting first-degree murder against Torres Gamboa places him among the most serious records in the program for Cuban citizens, comparable to the case of Evis Peguero Cotarelo, who was detained in January of this year.
Mullin concluded the statement with a declaration that summarizes Washington's stance: "Under the Trump administration, DHS enforces the law, deports illegal aliens, and defends the homeland. It is no surprise that crime rates have reached historic lows. We will always put the safety of the American people first."
The case of the Cuban was one of five highlighted in the statement released this Wednesday, alongside nationals from Guatemala, Iraq, and Nicaragua, with offenses including first-degree child sexual abuse, aggravated assault, illegal possession of firearms, and burglary.
The "Worst of the Worst" campaign was launched in 2025 under the Trump administration as a public platform to highlight ICE arrests of immigrants with serious criminal records, allowing searches for cases by country of origin and state.
Since then, hundreds of Cubans have been added to that list with offenses ranging from first-degree murder to child sexual exploitation and drug trafficking, with Florida being the state where the majority of the arrests are concentrated.
Among the previous cases is that of Evis Peguero Cotarelo, convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in Miami-Dade, and Reinier Fuentes Armentero, arrested in Florida for four charges related to child sexual exploitation material.
The most recent case before Torres Gamboa was Karel Pineda, included in August 2026, and just last week, Raidel Gato was reported after a conviction for armed robbery in Miami.
El arresto de Torres Gamboa por ICE es parte de una serie de operaciones migratorias que afectan a ciudadanos cubanos en EE.UU. Sigue todos los detalles en nuestra sección de
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