News Releases and Statements

According to law enforcement authorities, in June 2018, Task Force members with Laredo’s HIDTA were conducting surveillance of a downtown Laredo parking lot.  They witnessed an individual transfer boxes from one vehicle to another. Task Force members approached the individual and conducted a preliminary search inside the vehicle. During the search they discovered a large cache of weapons and other related merchandise.

Jason Vizcaino-Velepucha, 22, was removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations Charter flight and transferred into the custody of Ecuadorian law enforcement authorities upon arrival to the capital of Guayaquil.

ERO officers removed Frank Adonay Gonzalez Valdez, an El Salvadoran national with MS-13 affiliations, June 15 and transferred him to the custody of El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities upon his arrival in his home country. ERO officers removed Andrew Wall, an Irish national and member of the organized crime syndicate “Cock-Wall Gang,” June 19 and transferred him to the custody of local authorities at Ireland’s Dublin Airport.

Gabriel Acosta Villa, 29, of Lake Forest, California, and Oscar Perez Jr., 23, of Santa Ana, California, are both charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.

On June 17, 2018, U.S. Border Patrol agents initiated immigration inspections on three vehicles – a 2013 Tahoe, a 2007 Suburban, and a 2008 Tahoe – traveling in a convoy on FM 2644 between El Indio and Carrizo Springs, Texas.

During the search warrant execution, authorities identified 146 Fresh Mark employees working at the Salem meat processor who were subject to arrest for immigration violations.

Anthony Cotter, 30, of Springfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to sexually exploiting children, and producing and possessing child pornography.

A Vietnamese national, who was in the custody of ICE died Tuesday morning at the Banner Casa Grande Medical Center in Casa Grande, Arizona. An autopsy is pending to determine the official cause of death.

Operation Limelight USA is a program designed by HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC) to bring awareness about FGM and deter its practice by educating the public about the risks and penalties associated with it. It is based on the United Kingdom’s Operation Limelight which began at Heathrow Airport and is conducted by the Metropolitan Police Service and Border Authority.

Lester Cruz-Garcia, 21, was arrested July 6, 2017, by the Yonkers Police Department and charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation – apply pressure, assault in the second degree: intent to cause physical injury with a weapon, and harassment in the second degree: physical contact.

Guillermo Leon-Sandoval, 35, has been charged by Philadelphia police with unlawful restraint/serious bodily injury; simple assault; recklessly endangering another person; and false imprisonment.

HSI special agents arrested three U.S. citizens. All three are facing federal human smuggling charges. 

The letter, originally written in 1493, was stolen from the Vatican Library and later sold in 2004 for approximately $875,000. This is the third Christopher Columbus’ letter repatriation in the past two years.

Of those arrested in Los Angeles and surrounding areas from Sunday through Tuesday, almost 90 percent had criminal convictions. In 53 of the cases, ICE had filed detainers with local law enforcement officials notifying them of the agency’s intent to assume custody of these aliens once they were no longer subject to local detention.

During the operation, the Washington ICAC Task Force conducted 51 investigations involving peer-to-peer networks and made 47 arrests. HSI, as part of the task force, conducted 11 search and seizure warrants; made six federal arrests, four state arrests, and one state arrest pending military charges; and identified/rescued one minor victim.

All 54 suspected smuggled aliens were rescued Tuesday night after being discovered inside a tractor trailer; one of those rescued remains hospitalized.

The individuals arrested throughout New Jersey were nationals of Anguilla (1), Bangladesh (1), Cameroon (1), Colombia (4), Cuba (3), Dominican Republic (14), Ecuador (4), Egypt (1), El Salvador (10), Ghana (1), Guatemala (3), Guinea (1), Guyana (2), Haiti (3), Honduras (4), Jamaica (3), Korea (2), Macedonia (2), Mexico (12), Nicaragua (1), Pakistan (2), Philippines (4), Peru (4), Poland (1), Spain (1), St. Lucia (1), Trinidad (3), and Venezuela (2).

On April 19, James Marvin Reed, 62, pleaded guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.