Update: 3:53 p.m., May 13, 2026.
Three fruit vendors were detained by federal immigration agents Monday morning as they were getting ready to load their produce carts, according to family and rapid response teams.
Video shared with Unión del Barrio shows the operation unfolding around 8:35 a.m. near the corner of Verde and Tremont streets, just steps away from Santa Teresita School, a Catholic elementary school.
The video, which appears to be from a home surveillance camera, shows men working on a black pickup truck before a white sedan and a black SUV collide as agents rush out of the vehicles to detain them.
Claudia Mancia with the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network was on the scene after the operation and spoke to a relative of the detained men who identified them as her cousins. Mancia said the woman believed the operation was targeted.
Ron Gochez with Unión del Barrio told Boyle Heights Beat that witnesses reported at least one of the agents’ cars had been parked on the residential street since about 5:45 a.m.
Mancia also said the agents were masked and had no warrant. The men are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Gochez said.
The three vendors, two of whom are brothers, came to the United States from Puebla, Mexico, about four years ago, according to a family member who did not want to be identified due to safety concerns. The vendors have been living together in Boyle Heights for about three years.
At least one of the vendors starts their day at 6 a.m. to buy the produce they sell during the day, the family member said, adding that the men appeared to have been loading the truck with their carts and produce when they were taken by agents.
“They’re just workers who work seven days a week to provide for their families in Puebla,” the family member said.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the operation was targeted and resulted in the arrests of Jhovany Flores-Martinez, Joel Flores-Martinez and Armando Espiritu Garcia from Mexico.
According to DHS, Jhovany Flores-Martinez has illegally entered the United States at least nine times and Espiritu Garcia has previously served jail time in connection with credit card fraud. Boyle Heights Beat could not independently verify those claims. The department did not provide supporting documentation or additional details.
DHS said the men were in ICE custody as of Tuesday pending removal.
An office worker at Santa Teresita School told Boyle Heights Beat that the school was aware of the operation but had no details on whether the school would be contacting parents.
Rosario Cornejo, secretary at Santa Teresita Church, said she had just gotten into her office at about 8:35 a.m. when she saw three vehicles speed past Zonal Avenue from her office window. She said she heard a woman say that it was ICE agents.
Santa Teresita school was not on lockdown, Cornejo said. The school always remains closed for the safety of the children, she said.
As a precautionary measure, Legacy LA, a nonprofit organization serving youth and families in the Ramona Gardens area, went into a soft lockdown due to the nearby ICE activity.
