The influencer who gained attention for showing off large amounts of money and offering advice on how to sneak across the border without documentation has been sent back to his home country.
Leonel Moreno, 27, was sent back to Venezuela this week after Donald Trump resumed deportations to the country.
Using TikTok, Moreno boasted about exploiting government aid programs and encouraged others to occupy abandoned properties, which caused uproar and anger among viewers.
He had to be moved to a high security section of the plane, according to the New York Post.
Once he arrived on Venezuelan soil, Moreno smugly flashed a thumbs up as he was guided off the aircraft, the New York Post reported.
Venezuela’s Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello said the brazen TikToker was ‘welcome’ back.
Since illegally crossing the border from Eagle Pass, Texas into the United States in April 2022 with his wife, Vernonia Torres, Moreno has been evading authorities, specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agency then lost track of Moreno, who settled down in Ohio with his wife and one-year-old daughter, who is a US citizen.
Leonel Moreno, 27, was flown off to Venezuela this week after President Donald Trump resumed deportations to the country
Moreno garnered a large social media following by posting outrageous video of himself claiming to be taking advantage of the welfare system
Moreno had been enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, which allows migrants on parole go free while officials track them until their next court date
Moreno had been enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, which allows migrants on parole go free while officials track them until their next court date.
When he never showed up for his court date in Miami in November 2022, he was listed as an ‘absconder’ from the program.
But he popped back up on ICE’s radar last year, when his outrageous content about ways to cheat the American government as an illegal migrant went viral.
In March 2024, Moreno was arrested in Columbus after months of taunting Americans online.
He was being held in federal custody at the Geauga County Jail in Ohio after ICE found him and arrested him for violating his terms of probation.
And despite confidently flashing his government-allocated stacks of money online, Moreno had claimed he could not afford an attorney at the time.
‘He’s having financial difficulties finding an attorney for his case,’ an ICE source told the Post in March.
Moreno released a 30-minute-long video on from prison, whining about being treated poorly behind bars.
The migrant influencer who notoriously flaunted stacks of cash and posted squatting advice for other undocumented immigrants caused a scene while being deported to Venezuela
Moreno has been on the run from ICE ever since he and his wife Vernonia Torres illegally crossed the Eagle Pass, Texas border into the US in April 2022
‘I came here to the United States because of persecution in my country…But they’re doing the same thing to me in the United States – persecuting me,’ Moreno said.
‘It’s all misinformation in the media about me. They’re defaming me, They’re misrepresenting me in the news… I am a good father, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful to people who respect me.’
As he spoke in Spanish and hid his face from the camera, Moreno added: ‘I miss my entire life – I miss my freedom!’
After Moreno was locked up in March, his wife claimed she was banned from visiting him and did not know where he was being held.
‘We don’t know where they took him and I can’t see him,’ she told the Post.
‘I can’t give you any more information because I don’t know much.’
Aside from violating his parole conditions, Moreno was flagged by authorities for shamelessly posting pictures of himself guns on Instagram.
He was also being looked into because authorities believe he used to be a sergeant in the Venezuelan military, the Post reported.
Aside from violating his parole conditions, Moreno was flagged by authorities for shamelessly posting pictures of himself guns on Instagram
After he was arrested, Moreno’s wife claimed she did not know where he husband was being held
An immigration judge had ordered Moreno to be sent back to Venezuela in October 2024, but the country was not accepting any deportation flights at the time.
However, amid Trump’s immigration crackdown, Venezuela started allowing those flights once again.
Last month, Moreno was moved from the Ohio prison to an ICE detention center in Conroe, Texas before his deportation, according to the Post.
He had garnered more than half a million TikTok followers before his account was suspended.
A spokesman for TikTok told DailyMail.com at the time that the platform doesn’t allow users to promote criminal activities.
Moreno has grown infamous for his posts about living in America. One of his most viral clips was him instructing people to utilize squatters’ rights.
‘If a house is not inhabited, we can seize it,’ he asserted.
He has also been seen waving handfuls of cash, insinuating he was free-loading off of government assistance programs.
