News Releases and Statements

ICE HSI Buffalo is to be commended for bringing together law enforcement officers from all levels of government to investigate these serious issues for our country.

Mario Ernesto Huezo-Vasquez, 32, departed the United States Tuesday onboard an ICE Air Operations Unit charter flight. Upon arrival in El Salvador, ERO officers turned him over to officials from the Salvadoran Civilian National Police (PNC).

Reynoso Matos, aka Julio Eliezer Minyettis, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, was charged April 8. He has a prior aggravated-felony conviction for trafficking of controlled substances.

Steven Ray Hemenway, 47, admitted to possessing child pornography when investigators searched his home in February 2013. HSI special agents began their probe after Canadian officials arrested a Toronto man for distributing child pornography by email, including to an address later tied to Hemenway.

Ian Quincy Winn, 48, admitted in a plea agreement to receiving child pornography and engaging in online chats about child sex abuse with undercover HSI special agents. Court records state Winn engaged in chats with an undercover HSI special agent who was posing as a man with a 6-year-old niece.

The tunnel is approximately 449 feet long, with approximately 60 feet in Mexico and 389 feet in the U.S. The tunnel is roughly four feet tall and ends underneath a canyon just east of the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz. The tunnel was incomplete and did not have a U.S. exit.

Shawna Michelle Gunter allegedly used stolen identity to gain employment at a doctor's office, treated 200 patients, including infants, and wrote prescriptions. The indictment was returned March 18 and unsealed April 4 upon Gunter's arrest.

HSI Dallas is assisting the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas SWAT with one of the big attractions, the March Madness Music Festival inside the Dallas Convention Center in Bracket Town and Reunion Arena area.

Sihai Cheng, a citizen of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili an Iranian national, were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia following an international investigation by the FBI, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement.

Alan Johnson, 23, made his initial appearance in federal court Friday afternoon to answer to the charges.

Of the individuals taken into custody, 30 were criminal aliens whose convictions include: sex offenses, rape, larceny, drug possession, domestic violence, aggravated assault, and driving under the influence.

The passageway - equipped with lighting, a crude rail system and wooden trusses - exits inside a warehouse at 10145 Via de la Amistad. The entrance is accessed down a 70-foot shaft secured by a cement cover.

Michael David Wilson, 30, whose case was featured on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Operation Predator smartphone app to seek fugitive and unknown child predator suspects, was arrested late Wednesday night in Mexicali, Mex.

Larissa Hlukha pleaded guilty Thursday for her role in a conspiracy to arrange fraudulent marriages for illegal aliens from Uzbekistan and Russia. The guilty plea follows the launch of an ICE outreach campaign warning the public not to say 'I do' to marriage fraud.

Modesto Alarcon, 41, of Aurora, is charged with unlawfully possessing a controlled substance with intent to deliver, unlawfully possessing a controlled substance, and money laundering.

Daniel Alan Jines, 37, of Whitestown, Ind., was sentenced to 680 months in federal prison after he was convicted of the following charges: 10 counts of producing, one count of receiving, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Lisa A. Renze, 48, of Uniontown, Pa., pleaded guilty April 2 before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer. At sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 1, she faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or both. She is currently free on bond.

Arturo Gonzalez, 42, owner of J.C. Twiss El Canonazo sporting apparel and firearm accessories stores in Laredo, appeared before US District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo sentenced Gonzalez to 63 months in federal prison, plus three years of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence.

Marriage fraud poses a national security threat, damages the integrity of the U.S. immigration system and endangers U.S. citizens who enter into these fake unions.

Son Pham, 45, admitted he loaned money to people in his community and then used threats of violence to try to collect the debts.

Jonathan Delaura was sentenced to 35 years in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet, possessing child pornography and sending obscene material to a 15-year-old boy.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with the Caribbean Border Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), seized Monday 1,774 kilograms of cocaine near Dorado and arrested two Venezuelan nationals for drug trafficking.

That DTO was responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in Lubbock and surrounding areas. The operation resulted in significant seizures of methamphetamine, three vehicles and more than $313,000 in cash.

Balakrishnan Patwardhan, 53, of Cupertino, admitted that, between July 2008 and October 2010, he knowingly submitted false immigration forms and supporting documentation to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeking high-tech worker visas for 19 applicants.

Robert Alexis Saldarriaga-Yepes, 20, a citizen of Colombia who was residing in New Market, Md., was arrested Dec. 6, 2012, by Frederick County Sheriff deputies on child exploitation related charges. The victim was a 9-year-old girl.