The Mesa County Sheriff's Office has removed itself from a federal communications group. The decision comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a college student from Utah following a traffic stop by the sheriff's office in the western Colorado county.

Body camera video shows a deputy interacting with Caroline Dias Goncalves, who is originally from Brazil.

She was given a warning after the deputy said she was following another vehicle too closely.

ICE agents used the traffic stop information, which was intended to be used for drug interdiction efforts -- to subsequently stop and detain Goncalves and take her to the ICE facility in Aurora.

The sheriff's office says per state law it doesn't investigate residency status during any law enforcement interactions.

The sheriff's office released two different statements on Monday about the detainment. The first was in the afternoon:

We are aware that a Mesa County Sheriff's Office Deputy conducted a traffic stop on June 5, 2025, with Caroline Dias Goncalves. The traffic contact occurred on Interstate 70 outside of Loma, Colorado, and lasted less than 20 minutes. Miss Dias Goncalves was released from the traffic stop with a warning. In accordance with Colorado law, the Mesa County Sheriff's Office does not investigate residency status during any law enforcement interactions. Our Deputy was part of a communication group that included local, state, and federal law enforcement partners participating in a multi-agency drug interdiction effort focusing on the highways throughout Western Colorado. We were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts, including immigration. We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff's Office members from the communication group. Our Administrative Investigation to ensure we are compliant with state law and department policy is ongoing. The body camera footage of the traffic stop will be released once the required redaction is complete.

The second was in the early evening:

Through our Administrative Investigation, we have learned that the federal representatives within the communication group began using the material collected for drug interdiction efforts to extrapolate immigration information for the purposes of ICE enforcement. This use of information is contradictory to Colorado law and was initially intended for the purpose of reducing illegal drug trafficking in Colorado. Unfortunately, it resulted in the later contact between ICE and Miss Dias Goncalves. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office Investigator involved in this incident is Investigator Alexander Zwinck. Investigator Zwinck is assigned to the drug interdiction team and is a K9 handler.  We would like to reiterate that we were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts and that we have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff's Office members from the communication group. We will continue our coordination on drug interdiction efforts with our state and federal and state partners within Colorado law.