A predawn crash on Tremont Street in Norwood on Thursday ended with federal agents chasing down and capturing a man they say is wanted for murder in Brazil. Department of Homeland Security officers had been in the area looking for Cleiton Toledo de Souza when he got into a vehicle in front of 6 Tremont Street, drove off, struck two parked vehicles, then jumped out and ran on foot before agents caught him.
Norwood Police were notified of the crash shortly before 7 a.m. and arrived to find DHS officers already on scene, according to NBC Boston. Officers spoke with the federal agents at the scene, and per federal agents, DHS officers had been there specifically to find de Souza before he attempted to flee. Local police remained at the scene to handle the investigation and document the crash, while DHS officers left with de Souza in custody. As reported by Fall River Reporter, de Souza was sought by federal authorities on an international murder warrant out of Brazil, and the brief foot pursuit followed his attempt to flee the crash scene.
A Pattern of Federal Operations in Norwood
This is not the first time federal immigration agents have made an arrest in Norwood this year. On July 9, agents arrested Brazilian national Mateus Laurenco De Oliveira on Dean Street after he had unlawfully reentered the country following a 2021 removal, an operation that was captured on local resident video and confirmed by ICE Boston, according to Inside Norwood. And in August 2025, DHS reported that ICE Boston lodged detainers against several noncitizens after Norwood Police arrested an organized residential burglary ring on Neponset Street, a case that implicated six people in multi-state break-ins.
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division in Boston has also made a habit of tracking down foreign fugitives elsewhere in Massachusetts, including multiple Brazilian nationals wanted for murder or aggravated homicide in their home countries, with prior arrests in Worcester and Fall River, per the agency. Statewide, ICE and its federal partners arrested 1,406 noncitizens during what the agency called Operation Patriot 2.0 in September 2025, with more than 600 of those arrested having significant criminal convictions, pending charges, or active foreign warrants, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Where Local Police Draw the Line
Norwood Police Chief Christopher Padden explained in February that local police do not enforce federal civil immigration laws, but that federal agencies notify local police through what are known as deconfliction protocols before conducting enforcement operations in town, according to The Norwood Record. That distinction reflects a legal boundary set nearly a decade ago: under the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's 2017 ruling in Lunn v. Commonwealth, state and local officers lack statutory authority to detain someone solely on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer, per Justia Law.
That boundary has only sharpened recently. Governor Maura Healey signed the PROTECT Act on August 5, a law that restricts federal immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like courthouses and schools and bars local police from entering new 287(g) agreements with ICE, as reported by WFIN. It remains unclear from available reporting whether DHS had requested any local assistance ahead of the Tremont Street crash or whether Norwood Police were drawn in only after de Souza fled and collided with the parked cars.
The Broader Enforcement Picture
De Souza's case, involving an international murder warrant, stands apart from the bulk of what fills ICE detention nationally. Federal data analyzed by TRAC in July found that 70.6% of noncitizens held in ICE detention across the country had no criminal convictions at all. Closer to home, data pulled from Massachusetts trial courts showed federal immigration officers made at least 54 arrests at Boston municipal courthouses in 2025 as interior enforcement ramped up, with public defenders noting a substantial rise in courthouse apprehensions, according to GBH News.
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