The key facts

  • A 35-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan was arrested by ICE on October 14, 2026, near his home in Brooklyn
  • According to ICE, in 2013 in Thailand he confessed to murdering a woman whose body he placed in a suitcase and dumped into a canal
  • In 2020 he was sentenced in Uzbekistan to five years in prison for theft; he is currently awaiting deportation

Arrest in New York

On October 14, 2026, officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a 35-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan who was wanted internationally on charges of murdering his girlfriend in Thailand. The arrest took place near his home in the New York borough of Brooklyn. According to ICE, the man, whose surname is given as Sobirov, is currently being held at an immigration detention facility pending deportation proceedings.

Murder in Thailand and Sentence in Uzbekistan

According to ICE, the man was detained in Thailand in 2013 and confessed to murdering his girlfriend: after that, he placed the woman's body in a suitcase and dumped it into a canal. In addition, in 2020 he was charged with theft in Uzbekistan and sentenced to five years in prison.

History in the United States

In the United States, the man was also connected to other incidents: the New York police conducted an investigation into stalking, and in 2024 the Kings County court issued a protective order against him. He was first detained by U.S. border authorities in April 2023 after illegally crossing the border near the town of Lukeville, Arizona — at the time he was in a group of 110 migrants. He was then released on bond on the condition of appearing at an immigration court hearing in New York, but after one check-in in May 2024 he stopped reporting to immigration authorities, which preceded his re-arrest in October 2026.