News Releases and Statements

John Jacobs Olivas, 43, of Riverside, was arrested this morning without incident by special agents from the FBI and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

Rasheed Al Jijakli, 57, a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna.

Santos Alfredo Paz-Ruiz, 42, was sentenced Aug. 13 to 33 months in federal prison for firearms violations.  On May 10, 2018, Paz-Ruiz pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Of the individuals arrested during the operation, 15 had previously been removed (deported) and 42 had prior criminal convictions. Several had felony convictions for serious or violent criminal offenses, such as rape, child exploitation, robbery, drug trafficking and assault.

Brian Alejandro Martinez, who has also gone by the name Maximiliano Cornejo, departed the U.S. and was turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement authorities where he is wanted for the offense of homicide.

More than 71,000 marijuana plants were removed from about 38 acres of Colorado public lands (not including the islands on the Colorado river) during last year’s growing season.

Twelve people were arrested following an undercover narcotics investigation at the Foundation Nightclub in Belltown by the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

After facilitating the December 2017 signing of the official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Kenya (GOK) and NCMEC, HSI Nairobi partnered with both the AHTCPU and other stakeholders to ensure both the technical capacity and resources were in place to begin delivering actionable child exploitation leads to the GOK.

Oscar Degaldo Flores, a.k.a. Flaco, 24, of El Salvador, and Luis Colindres, a.k.a. Listo and Joe, 21, of Honduras, were also charged with conspiracy; witness tampering; using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and causing death through the use of a firearm.

In connection with the fraud, the defendants and their associates improperly accessed more than 3,300 customers’ cellphone accounts, fraudulently obtained more than 1,200 cellphones, and caused losses exceeding $1 million.

Brandon J. Ziobrowski, 33, was charged in an indictment unsealed Thursday with one count of use of interstate and foreign commerce to transmit a threat to injure another person. Ziobrowski was arrested Aug. 9 in New York and will appear in Boston at a later date.

Alexander Revolorio, 27, entered the United States on an unknown date and place without inspection or parole by an immigration officer.

Francisco Javier Diaz-Lua, 28, entered the United States on an unknown date and place without inspection or parole by an immigration officer.

Armen Simonyan, 44, who was free on bond in the narcotics-trafficking case, was arrested after being named in a two-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury.

As alleged in the complaint, from at least in or about January 2016 up to and including in or about July 2018, Suen, Huang, Songhua Qu, Kin Lui Chen, and Fangrang Qu, imported at least 42 shipping containers holding an estimated more than 380,000 pairs of sneakers from China. These sneakers were manufactured to resemble Nike Air Jordans.

CITP is a 56-day program that provides HSI special agent trainees, as well as criminal investigators from other federal agencies, with an understanding of basic criminal investigative techniques. Seasoned HSI special agents, along with instructors from FLETC and numerous other federal agencies, bring their expertise and knowledge to instruct trainees on topics such as criminal law, enforcement operations, courtroom testimony and other interdisciplinary approaches to becoming an effective criminal investigator in today’s fast-paced and changing world.

For the past 15 years, the center and its partners have worked collaboratively to support ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) efforts to bring numerous individuals to justice for human rights-related violations, such as genocide, torture, ethnic cleansing and various other forms of persecution. Through its work over the years, the center and its dedicated personnel have ensured that the United States does not become a safe haven for human rights abusers.

The Trans Group and its five subsidiary corporations, headquartered in Spring Valley, NY, operate more than 1,300 vehicles, employ well over 2,000 employees and provide transportation services to hundreds of thousands of passengers annually. Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS), headquartered in Stony Brook, New York, has approximately 61 employees. 

Following a four-day trial in April 2018, Demarcus Davis, aka “Zigg,” 26, of Fort Worth, Texas, and co-conspirators, Herman Sanders, aka “Pooh,” 29, and Pierre Lagrone, “P” or “Pedro,” 34, were found guilty for their roles in a conspiracy to sex traffic underage girls.

Former insurance agents Ali Kakande, 38, and Sulaiman Lutale, 36, pleaded no contest to multiple felony counts of insurance fraud, grand theft, and forgery after falsifying life insurance applications to collect over $150,000 in unearned commissions.