News Releases and Statements

Andres Palacios Pizano, a 25-year-old Mexican citizen, was escorted by ERO officers from St. Paul, Minnesota, to the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry where he was transferred to Mexican authorities.

Victor Manuel Jimenez Ruiz, 33-year-old citizen of Mexico, was escorted by ERO officers from St. Paul, Minnesota, to the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry where he was transferred to Mexican authorities.

The 30-year-old unlawfully present Honduran citizen is wanted by authorities in Honduras for the crime of homicide using a firearm.

During this operation, ERO St. Paul used an intelligence-driven enforcement model to target noncitizens who have committed egregious sex crimes while in violation our nation’s immigration laws.

Chief District Court Judge Peter Welte sentenced Daniel Vivas Ceron, 42, of Colombia, to 27 years of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $11,048.43 in restitution for his role in a fentanyl distribution operation originating in a Canadian prison.

ERO officers escorted Jose Ramon Barcenas Diaz, 34, from Omaha, Nebraska, to a port of entry where he was removed from the United States and transferred to Mexican authorities.

U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider for the District of North Dakota announced that Juan Sillas-Rocha, 45, of Tijuana, Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, continuing criminal enterprise, and conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of the continuing criminal enterprise before Chief Judge Peter Welte in Fargo, North Dakota, on July 13.

ERO officers escorted Saul Ceniceros Santoyo, 27, from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to Laredo International Airport in Laredo, Texas, on July 11. Ceniceros was then transported to the Laredo, Texas, port of entry where he was removed from the United States and transferred to Mexican authorities on July 12.

Daniel Alberto Arape Teran, 35, was escorted to a commercial flight to Caracas, Venezuela.

Jaime De Jesus Gomez Hernandez, 37, was flown from Eppley Airfield Airport in Omaha, Nebraska, to Alexandria International Airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, April 12 on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit.

A flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit brought Orlando Orellana Calix, 38, from Eppley Airfield Airport in Omaha, Nebraska, to Alexandria International Airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, April 12. On April 14, Orellana Calix was flown from Alexandria International Airport to Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where he was transferred to Honduran authorities.

Officials flew Benito Sanchez-Jimenez, 41, from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana April 5 on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit.

On March 8, a flight coordinated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Air Operations Unit flew Erick Gomez-Gomez, 33, of Guatemala, from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Alexandria International Airport, Louisiana.

Guatemalan national Rogelio Franco Flores, 32, was flown from Omaha, Nebraska, to La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala, on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Guatemalan officials.

Hector Vasquez-Vasquez, 36, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Tama County, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea April 11, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been removed.

Guatemalan national Juan Lorenzo-Felipe, 25, was flown from Omaha, Nebraska, to La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala, on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Guatemalan officials.

Eddie Yenner Murphy Karpoleh was flown from Saint Paul to Liberia on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Liberian officials.

Salvadoran citizen Raul Antonio Lovo, aka Raul Brian Lovo, 34, who is wanted in El Salvador for rape against a minor, extortion and two charges of affiliation with a terrorist organization, was flown from Saint Paul, Minnesota to El Salvador on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to officials from El Salvador.

According to court documents, on January 19, 2022, law enforcement agents with ICE HSI responded to a request for assistance from the USBP based out of Pembina, North Dakota. USBP initiated a traffic stop on a white-colored, fifteen passenger van less than one mile south of the U.S./Canadian border in a rural area between the official ports of entry located at Lancaster, Minnesota and Pembina, North Dakota. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Steve Shand, 47, a U.S. citizen.

In fiscal year 2021, HSI human trafficking arrests across the country increased nearly 30%, from to 2,360 from 1,746 in the previous year, with 728 victims identified and assisted.

According to court documents, on Oct. 29, Kevin Alan Aguilar-Moreno, 20, attempted to board a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix, checking two suitcases prior to boarding. TSA agents screening luggage determined that Aguilar-Moreno’s baggage contained approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine; a FN, Model 509 9x19 pistol; a Rock Island Armory, 1911 A1-FS pistol; an AR-15-type firearm with no serial number; and 241 rounds of .223 ammunition, of which 39 were armor piercing ammunition.

Charles William Dexter III, 40, of Minneapolis, turned himself in to local authorities in Atlanta. He was previously charged by federal indictment with sex trafficking a minor.

Jose Wilmer Montano, aka Jose Wilmer Matamoros-Montano, 28, and an illegal alien fugitive, was removed from the United States on a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations Unit and turned over to law enforcement officials in El Salvador Jan. 15.

Alexander Mentol Zinnah, 56, arrived in Liberia escorted by ERO officers on board an ICE charter removal flight and was turned over to Liberian law enforcement authorities.