News Releases and Statements

Law enforcement officers conducted a forensic examination of Orlando Ismael Muniz's computer and found 17,847 images and 149 movies depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of prepubescent children.

Scott Eargood and Santos Zamora-Escobar were indicted Tuesday on drug charges related to their possession of more than 110 pounds of methamphetamine.

These are some of the sentiments expressed about ICE by a number of its law enforcement partners from around the globe.

James Postlethwaite, a Canadian man who smuggled drugs owned by the outlaw biker gang Hells Angels, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Miguel A. Lavenant shipped over 50 kilos of cocaine from San Diego to the East Coast, some of which was later distributed in Delaware.

Salvador Lopez, a local man who placed ads online seeking young girls "to have some fun," remains in federal custody after his arrest Wednesday by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Diamond Bar woman, who along with her husband owns a Los Angeles-area toy wholesaler, was ordered Monday to serve a total of 14 months in custody for participating in an elaborate scheme known as a Black Market Peso Exchange, which is an underground money-transfer system.

A resident of Taiwan who has been linked by the U.S. government to the supply of weapons machinery to North Korea and his son, who resides in suburban Chicago, face federal charges for allegedly conspiring to violate U.S. laws designed to thwart the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

ICE returned a Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton, looted from the Gobi Desert and illegally smuggled into the United States, to the government of Mongolia Monday during a repatriation ceremony at a Manhattan hotel. The Bataar was seized in New York by ICE's HSI special agents after it sold at a Manhattan auction for $1.05 million.

A Kent gun dealer, Mark E. Bryant, and his stepson, Andrew Gagley, were arrested Friday following their indictment on seven criminal counts related to illegal gun sales and distribution of controlled substances.

The owner and operator of a Korean 'doumi' business, which provided female escorts to customers at nightclubs in Annandale, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit alien harboring, following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) case.

Wally Nguyen of Danville, Pa., was convicted May 2 for conspiracy to commit money laundering, harboring, transporting and employing illegal aliens. The conviction is the result of an extensive investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jorge Garcia-Mejia, a Guatemalan man in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and under criminal investigation by local authorities, passed away Tuesday at the Eloy Detention Center of an apparent suicide.

Joshua Conde, 27, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Lawson Hardrick, Jr., of Calexico, was sentenced April 29. A federal jury convicted Hardrick in January of two felony counts of possession of images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Julian Luna-Nieto was sentenced Thursday to 28 years for methamphetamine trafficking as well as conspiring to tamper with witnesses by using intimidation and threats.

The group allegedly exploited dozens of women, some of whom were trafficked from Mexico to New York and forced to engage in prostitution.

Damian C. Mora, 30, of El Centro, was indicted April 10 by a federal grand jury for sexual exploitation of a minor. He was taken into custody April 9 after HSI special agents executed a search warrant at the El Centro home where he had resided since January.

Armando Duenez was sentenced Wednesday to 60 months in federal prison for conspiring to export firearms and failure to appear. The investigation began when weapons recovered in Mexico were traced back to him.

Jesse Bruner was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison following his guilty plea to trafficking of 10 bundles totaling 238.95 pounds of marijuana, which resulted from an investigation by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

HSI was able to intercept close to $3 million dollars before it reached the Zeta organization.

The defendants arrested Wednesday morning are expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Federal officials Wednesday announced the sentencing of three area residents involved in an eastern Idaho drug trafficking ring dismantled as a result of a nine-month Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) probe led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

Dwight R. Spaulding was sentenced Tuesday for producing and possessing fraudulent government credentials in a case investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).