News Releases and Statements

Juan H. Matos-Gonzalez and Vanessa Rios-Negron allegedly transported a 14-year-old female minor (Jane Doe) to a hotel in Ponce with the intent for her to engage in criminal sexual activity. On Feb. 28, 2012, Rios-Negron told Jane Doe that Matos-Gonzalez would pay them $200 each to watch them engage in sexually explicit conduct together.

Brian Robert Heinrich, 37, of Denver, is being held at the Weld County (Colorado) Jail on charges of attempted sexual assault on a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

Wade Robert Hoover was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 40 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child pornography. Between 2008 and 2012, Hoover sexually abused two children and took pictures and video of that abuse.

Manuel Edgardo Rivera-Bautista, 32, was flown to El Salvador June 28 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, the suspect was turned over to officials from the El Salvadoran Civilian National Police (PNC).

Dae Woong Lee, 20, of South Korea, was arrested June 3, and charged in Korea with obstruction of business. He will not face additional charges in the United States.

Lee Baca was arraigned Tuesday on child pornography charges, which resulted from an investigation by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Four members of an international arms trafficking organization were sentenced to prison Tuesday for conspiring to smuggle substantial quantities of firearms and ammunition from the United States to Greece.

ICE protects the United States by promoting homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.

John David Boyle, a teacher at Royal Oak Middle School in Covina who was arrested last month by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) following an undercover sting in his classroom, was indicted Tuesday for child exploitation offenses.

A federal jury convicted Kizzy Kalu Monday of 89 counts of mail fraud, visa fraud, human trafficking and money laundering, in a scheme involving foreign nationals that worked for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

The former president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association and his corporation have been sentenced for their role in a multimillion dollar commercial fraud scheme to evade paying import duties on goods they imported into the United States.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., woman, Hope K. Kantete, was convicted Friday for her role as the leader of a ring responsible for shipping dozens of stolen and carjacked vehicles worth more than $1 million from New Jersey to Africa.

A Yemeni citizen, Tuffek Mohammed Ali Saleh, was arrested Thursday by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents on three counts of making false statements about his immigration status.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested Andres Daniel Lopez-Martinez Wednesday for allegedly transporting a 14-year-old female to a local motel in Vega Baja with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Lee David Shropshire, 35, was sentenced June 24 to 170 months in prison by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow. In addition to the prison term, Shropshire will be subject to lifetime supervised release. Shropshire pleaded guilty March 20 to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Jose Ricardo Urias Hernandez, a man from El Salvador who is wanted in his home country for human trafficking, was deported and turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement authorities Monday by officers with ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Brian Perron formerly of Wood Dale, Ill., pleaded guilty in April 2012 and admitted that he had sexually molested two children when he was 19 years old. Perron was arrested in July 2009 after HSI agents executed a search warrant at his home and seized a computer hard drive that contained 97 images and 21 videos depicting child pornography.

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal wire fraud charges in connection with a Ponzi scheme. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI conducted the investigation.

Carlos Alejandrez, the fifth and final defendant in a human smuggling and harboring case, was sentenced Thursday to more than eight years in prison.

"Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kabul assisted in the return of a late 19th century historic ""jezail"" rifle ammunition speed loader to the people of Afghanistan during a ceremony held June 2, at the Ministry of Information and Culture Rose Garden. "

U.S. and Mexican authorities shut down an incomplete cross-border drug smuggling tunnel following its discovery Tuesday during a routine, bi-national inspection of the city's main storm drain system.

46 year-old Mark Noyes, of Beaworthy, United Kingdom, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in a United Kingdom prison for numerous sexual offenses against children. Noyes had deliberately accessed a social networking site from his home in order to befriend and groom two vulnerable 12-year-old American girls.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and several law enforcement agencies in Europe, coordinated by the European Police Office (Europol), announced the seizure of 328 domain names in two related operations Wednesday. The seized domain names were associated with websites illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online.

Alfredo Guerrero Espartiro, a Filipino national who pleaded guilty last year to federal charges arising from his role in a scheme to illegally export military aircraft parts from the U.S. to Iran, was removed to the Philippines Wednesday by officers from ICE's Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Hia Soo Gan Benson and Lim Kow Seng pleaded guilty in federal court in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act by unlawful export of 55 military antennas from the United States to Singapore and Hong Kong, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).