LAWRENCE — A convicted drug trafficker who slipped through Massachusetts’ porous sanctuary state cracks is finally back in federal custody.

ICE Boston agents announced the arrest of Ivan Avalo, 33, an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who was previously convicted of fentanyl trafficking and heroin distribution in Lawrence.

Avalo’s rap sheet reads like a fentanyl nightmare — poison that’s been killing Bay Staters in record numbers. Yet under the state’s soft-on-crime, sanctuary-friendly policies, he managed to remain in the community far longer than many residents would stomach.

Now, with ICE holding him behind bars pending deportation, the question is why it took federal agents — not Massachusetts leaders — to protect the public.

Avalo remains in ICE custody as removal proceedings move forward.