EXCLUSIVE: 5-time illegal entrant admits ‘mistake’ that finally got him busted by ICE

EXCLUSIVE: An illegal immigrant who re-entered the U.S. five times said his drinking is the "mistake" that finally led to his arrest by U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement early Thursday morning.

Ernesto Alejandro Perez-Garcia, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Redondo Beach, California , a suburb of Los Angeles.

Perez-Garcia has a history of arrests dating to 2003 for alcohol-, controlled substance- and driving-related offenses, as well as making terroristic threats and illegally re-entering the U.S.

ICE said he illegally entered the country five times and made four additional attempts to enter.

Fox News Digital witnessed ICE arrest Perez-Garcia on Thursday.

When agents first encountered him on the Redondo Beach esplanade, he denied his identity.

However, when confronted with a previous mugshot, Perez-Garcia acknowledged that he was the man they were seeking.

After ICE booked and processed him, Perez-Garcia told Fox News Digital that he lied to agents "to see if I could get away with it." He said that after he was confronted with his mugshot, he realized, "I’m busted, you know, in other words, I’m f---ed." ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN ACCUSED OF STABBING VIRGINIA MOTHER, DOUSING HER IN GASOLINE Perez-Garcia said that despite national headlines about ICE operations , he did not expect to be arrested Thursday morning.

He said he was on his usual morning walk when agents encountered him.

"Once I saw the officer … with the picture of me, there was no way I was going to run," he said.

"At the end of the day," he continued, "it’s the alcohol that got me back in this mess." While he said a friend’s recent death "got me caught up [in alcoholism]," he said, "It shouldn’t have, so it’s my mistake, and I’ve got to be responsible for that." Perez-Garcia first entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location.

The Torrance Police Department in California initially arrested him on April 3, 2003, for driving without a license.

He was convicted and sentenced to 30 days.