News Releases and Statements

A Northeast Florida Interagency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force, or NEFL INTERCEPT, investigation led to guilty pleas for brothers Joshua Thomas Brown, 28, and Jonathan William Brown, 25, both of Jacksonville.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

In Arizona, law enforcement took approximately 52 disruption actions against those responsible for facilitating a range of fraud schemes, including romance and lottery schemes.

Olegario Lares-De La Rosa, 30, of Mexico, was convicted of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit, transportation of illegal aliens, and felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition after a jury trial in February 2023.

According to the indictment and other court records, Jose Luis Avalos aka “El Gordo,” 40, of El Paso, Texas, allegedly led the human smuggling operation. Avalos and his wife, Kristina Hardin, 41, also of El Paso, were arrested June 1 in El Paso, and detention hearings are set for June 7 to determine whether they will remain in custody pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

On May 31, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Christopher Joel Rabell-Pineiro, 25, of Canovanas, with production of child sexual abuse material and child exploitation. Authorities arrested Rabell-Pineiro on June 6.

A federal judge sentenced Miguel Armando Castro, of Phoenix, to 51 months in prison followed by supervised release for attempting to smuggle firearms and ammunition into Mexico.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

ERO Washington, D.C.’s Special Response Team apprehended the undocumented noncitizen in Richmond, Virginia, on May 18. He will remain in ERO custody pending his removal to El Salvador.

Francisco Burgos Jr., 38, of Chantilly, Virginia, received the sentence May 17 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

Dina Maldonado Morales, 42, and Laura Ballesteros Haby, 52, were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting wire fraud.

Jonathan Wilson, 35, of Chesapeake, received the lengthy prison sentence June 1 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

According to court documents, Jerry Chucks Ozor, 43, and Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham, 44, were part of a group of fraudsters who sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

Edickson Paulino Castano, 52, is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in the Dominican Republic for murder.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

A federal grand jury returned the one-count indictment on Tuesday against Tong Sun, 45, from Suqian in the Jiangsu province of China. Sun is in custody following charges in a criminal complaint.

The man was convicted of unlawful possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives in Brazil and sentenced to incarceration.

ERO Philadelphia removed Harby Rigoberto Vargas-Sanchez, a Honduran citizen with a final order of removal, to Honduras on an ICE Air Operations charter aircraft May 26.

The roster included Sinisa Djurdjic’s name; Djurdjic immigrated to the United States in 2000. HSI discovered that, on various U.S. immigration applications, Djurdjic had denied serving in foreign military and police units.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

Meshach Samuels, 26, of Placentia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

The 50-year-old foreign national, who has been identified as a confirmed, active member of Primeiro Comando Da Capital (PCC) – Brazil’s largest criminal gang organization – has been convicted of homicide in his native country. He unlawfully entered the United States near San Luiz, Arizona, in March 2023.

ICE deportation officers transported Marco Antonio Alcantar-Lopez, a 19-year-old unlawfully present Mexican fugitive wanted for aggravated rape of a minor; Vladimir Reynaldo Hernandez Aguilar, a 27-year-old, twice-previously removed Mexican fugitive wanted for robbery; Gilberto Cano-Troncoso, a 33-year-old previously removed Mexican fugitive wanted for drug trafficking; and Perne Vallejo Ayala, a 23-year-old, three-time previously removed Mexican fugitive wanted for auto theft from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo.