U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Gamal Mohamed Abdeltawab Elsharkawai during targeted enforcement operations in Manchester, New Hampshire, with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston taking the Egyptian national into custody. Authorities identified him as a criminal alien from Egypt, and the agency says he had a prior arrest on three counts of sexual assault-rape.
According to New Bedford Guide, ERO Boston reported the triple sexual assault-rape arrest as the basis for flagging Elsharkawai during the sweep, though the outlet's account does not establish how that case was resolved. The report also notes that ERO Boston released no additional details about when the Manchester operation took place or the specific circumstances surrounding Elsharkawai's earlier arrest.
ERO Boston said it will continue efforts to remove dangerous criminal aliens from New England communities, framing the Manchester detention as part of ongoing federal efforts targeting noncitizens with serious criminal records in the region. The same unit has been a near-constant presence in regional headlines in recent weeks.
A Pattern of Targeted Sweeps Across New England
The Manchester detention follows a string of similar operations attributed to ERO Boston. Earlier in October, the same report notes, agents arrested Carlos Payes, described by ICE as a Guatemalan illegal alien, during targeted operations in Marlborough, Massachusetts, citing his arrests for assault and battery, violations of an abuse prevention order, operating under the influence, and witness or juror intimidation.
Further south, ICE Boston said it arrested 118 people during a four-day targeted immigration enforcement operation in southern Connecticut, according to the Fall River Reporter. Acting ICE Boston Field Office Director David T. Wesling said at the time that ERO Boston would continue to protect Connecticut communities from dangerous criminals, language that echoes the agency's stated rationale in the Manchester case.
Arrests Have Surged Across the Region
The Manchester detention lands amid a broader spike in enforcement activity across New England. ICE arrests within the agency's Boston area of responsibility jumped from 2,044 between Jan. 20 and Dec. 2, 2024, to 8,848 over the same stretch in 2025, according to WBUR, which cited an ICE spokesperson for the figures. The outlet also reported that deportations across New England since the start of 2025 have run ten times higher than during the same period the year before.
WBUR's reporting pointed to other large-scale operations that illustrate the scale of the recent push, including a four-day sweep in Connecticut last August that led to 65 apprehensions and ICE's “Operation Patriot 2.0,” which the station said netted 1,400 arrests across Massachusetts in September. A separate ICE release described a national operation resulting in 138 arrests involving people with final orders of removal, though the agency did not specify when or where that operation occurred.
No further information has been made public about Elsharkawai's case, including the outcome of the sexual assault-rape arrests cited by ERO Boston or the precise timing of the Manchester operation that led to his detention.
