Ottawa says it is seeking answers in the death of 49-year-old Canadian citizen Johnny Noviello, a convicted drug trafficker who died in U.S. immigration enforcement custody on June 23 in Miami, Florida.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand said in a June 26 statement that “Canadian consular officials are urgently seeking more information from US officials,” and added that “in order to respect the family’s privacy, further details will not be provided at this time.”
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Noviello was “found unresponsive” in custody. He was subsequently given CPR and shocked with a defibrillator by detention centre medical staff, but was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
“The cause of death is still under investigation,” ICE said in a June 25 statement, adding that the agency “remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments.”
“Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay,” the agency said.
Noviello entered the United States legally in 1988, moving to Daytona as a child, and became a permanent resident in 1991, ICE said in the statement. In 2017, Noviello and his father Angelo Noviello were arrested and charged for selling and delivering opioids.
Johnny Noviello was convicted for the drug offences in October of 2023 and spent four months in jail in Volusia County before being released into a year of community control, followed by probation. He was arrested by ICE on May 15, 2025, while at a probation office and charged for removal for his violation of U.S. narcotics laws.
ICE deportations have been at the centre of growing political polarization in the United States, following the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who vowed in his campaign to prioritize the deportation of illegal immigrants, while ICE operations have been opposed by some Democratic governors and municipal officials of some large cities such as Los Angeles. According to ICE, during the first 100 days of Trump’s second term 66,463 illegal immigrants were arrested and 65,682 were deported, with three-in-four illegal immigrants arrested having criminal records.
Downtown Los Angeles in early June saw wide-scale riots against ICE operations, which resulted in the federal government deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to restore order, to the opposition of the state governor saying it was an infringement of jurisdiction.
According to ICE records, there have been 10 deaths of detainees in ICE custody as of May in fiscal year 2025, 12 deaths in fiscal year 2024, and four deaths in fiscal year 2023. Congressional laws require ICE to publicize all detention deaths within 90 days.
ICE says that all detainees in its custody are given health and mental-health screening “within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility,” followed by a “full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.”
