News Releases and Statements

HSI San Juan special agents executed four arrest warrants in the Llorens Torres public housing in San Juan after a U.S. District Judge for the District Court of Puerto Rico District signed a criminal complaint charging Luis Nomar Isaac Sanchez, Joshua Enrique Bula Cartagena, Kevin Manuel Bonilla Ramirez and Eli Yaniel Couvertier Pollock with illegal possession of a machine gun and aiding and abetting. During the operation, HSI arrested Couvertier Pollock, who is now in custody.

Leonard Mnela, a citizen of Albania with a final order of removal, is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Italy for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted extortion, firearms violation, drug trafficking, drug importing and drug selling.

If convicted, Reginald Dugger, 42, of Orlando, faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison for the drug offense and up to 15 years in federal prison for the firearm offense.

Chad Williams Wesevich, 40, and his brother Jamie Wesevich, 41, both residents of Corpus Christi, were sentenced Feb. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to serve 360, 240 and 60 months, respectively, for conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

David Pasillas Martinez, 52, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, will remain in custody pending trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

Saul Castorena, 41, and his brother, Steven Castorena, 40, are charged with conspiracy to take a hostage, two counts of hostage taking, conspiracy related to harboring undocumented noncitizens, and two counts of harboring an undocumented noncitizen.

David Fehr Wiebe, of Janos, Chihuahua, Mexico, will remain in custody pending trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

Vernelle E. Hines, 30, a resident of Houston, Texas, was charged with interfering with commerce by robbery and carrying and using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Jose Angel Hinojosa Jr., 36, of Weslaco, pleaded guilty Jan. 19 before U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey. As part of his plea, Hinojosa admitted to attempting to smuggle more than 40 firearms.

Rolando Herrera, 26, pleaded guilty Jan. 3 to conspiracy to smuggle ammunition with intent to promote a felony. His sisters, Ashley Herrera, 22, and Yamileth Herrera, 21, entered their guilty pleas Dec. 12, 2023. All are U.S. citizens and maintain residences in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Kahlil Felder, 39, of Southeast Washington D.C., was arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and using, carrying and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, among other charges. Felder was ordered detained pending trial.

Chandler Britain Bradford, 34, of New Braunfels, is charged with one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States; one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms; one count of conspiracy to transfer firearms for use in a felony; four counts of aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods from the United States; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Dec. 6 that District Court Chief Judge Robert A. Molloy sentenced Somalie Bruce, 37, to 120 months of incarceration for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to traffic firearms.  

ERO Philadelphia removed Arif Ugur, a citizen of Turkey with a final order of removal, to Turkey on Nov. 20, 2023.

A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Hainze Diaz Arroyo, known in the music industry as Hanzel la H, with firearms violations. Diaz Arroyo was arrested on July 10 for violating his federal supervised release and has remained detained since his arrest.

A federal grand jury returned indictments for Jeremiah Pittman, 21; Shamall McDonald, 21; Juan Christian Rodriguez-Luhan, 20; Raeshawn Demond Roberts, 21; Jacob Deshaun Raglin, 24; Javion Lavelle Cooper, 19; Tyson Charae Hawthorne, 21; and Dantawn Richardson, 20, all charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

More than 1 million rounds of ammunition seized from Iran last year have been transferred to Ukraine following an investigation conducted by HSI Washington, D.C., the DCIS of the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, and the DOJ. The U.S. government transferred the 1.1 million rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces Oct 2.

Eric Nana Kofi Ampong Coker, 41, of Columbia received a sentence of 30 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Sep. 6. 

On Sept. 7, HSI Houston, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and various other federal, state and local law enforcement authorities announced charges brought against 39 individuals under the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Houston Violent Crime Initiative.

Speaking at an Aug. 31 roundtable in Laredo, HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee, CBP Acting Director of Field Operations for Laredo Eugene Crawford, ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Division Robert Topper, Houston U.S. Postal Inspection Service Chief Scott Fix, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Makens stressed that interdicting southbound firearms prevents criminal cartels from using them in illicit activity, such as the production and trafficking of fentanyl.

On Aug. 31, a federal judge sentenced Pedro Cruz Almeida Jr., 22, of Pharr, to serve 50 months in prison immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Victor Coronado Jr., 40, of Tucson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States.

Manuel De Jesus Guzman, 19, of Rio Rico, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Joshua Francisco Mendez, 19, of Tucson, was sentenced to one year and one day to prison; both sentences will be followed by three years of supervised released; Guzman and Mendez pleaded guilty to Smuggling Goods from the United States.

Hugo Medina, 40, of Del Rio, was sentenced Aug. 1 to 57 months in prison.

Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Kansas City Taekuk Cho and Acting United States Attorney Susan T. Lehr announced that Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Joshua Thomas Alan Casiano, 36, of Kearney, Nebraska, on July 10, 2023 to five years’ imprisonment for possession of stolen firearms, following an HSI, law enforcement partner investigation.