News Releases and Statements

The operation is the first phase of Operation Vesta, a long-term joint U.S. and Colombian law enforcement investigation that focused on Transnational Criminal Enterprises engaging in human trafficking, sex tourism, prostitution, child exploitation, and conspiracy in Cartagena, Colombia.

Consistent with the agency’s protocols, the appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies have been notified about this death, as have the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Isaac T. Kannah, 51, of Philadelphia, PA, who was convicted of misprision of a felony, was sentenced to time served and one year unsupervised release by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer. In addition, the defendant has agreed to revocation of his immigration status and will voluntarily depart the United States immigration proceedings.

Pursuant to an investigation by ICE's HSI-led El Dorado Task Force, two Florida men were arrested Tuesday for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with their ownership and operation of Flawless Escorts, a nationwide business offering prostitution services, as well as the seizure of Flawless Escorts’ website.  

Miguel Pagan, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography on April 25, 2018.

Twelve members of a Bronx crew are facing charges with narcotics offenses following a joint operation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Bronx Violent Crimes Squad.

Udiel Aguilar-Castellanos, an unlawfully present Mexican national subject to a final order of removal issued by a federal immigration judge in January 2015, was arrested at his Carrboro, North Carolina, residence Monday morning by a Raleigh-based ICE Fugitive Operations Team.

During the operation, ICE’s ERO arrested 65 individuals for violating U.S. immigration laws. 64 of those arrested, had been previously removed from the United States and returned illegally. Of those arrested, 29 individuals were previously released from local law enforcement custody with an active detainer.

Operation Eagle’s Shield leveraged field office resources to identify priority targets for enforcement action throughout Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area. From July 9 to 20, officers from the ERO Washington Field Office targeted and arrested various violent offenders, gang members, sex offenders, fugitives from justice, and those who otherwise pose a significant public safety threat.

A federal indictment was unsealed in April 2014, charging a Pennsylvania resident, a United Kingdom citizen and a Syrian citizen, for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to illegally export laboratory equipment, including items used to detect chemical warfare agents, from the United States to Syria.

Following a four-day trial in April 2018, Pierre Lagrone, aka “P” or “Pedro,” 34, and co-conspirators, Herman Sanders, aka “Pooh,” 29, and Demarcus Davis, aka “Zigg,” 26, were found guilty for their roles in a conspiracy to sex traffic underage girls. Lagrone was sentenced July 23 to life in federal prison.  Sanders was previously sentenced before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 420 months; Davis is scheduled for sentencing July 30.

Jurors convicted Juan Francisco “Kiko” Trevino Chavez, 38, on one count each of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import marijuana, unlawful distribution of controlled substances (extra-territorial), conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kiko Trevino is the nephew of Los Zetas leaders Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (Z-40) and Oscar Omar Trevino Morales (Z-42).

James Daniel Arbaugh, 40, of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the United States to Haiti in or about 2016 to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a person under the age of 18 before U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth K. Dillion of the Western District of Virginia, who sentenced him earlier today and remanded him to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Daniel Arthur Hill, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography on Nov. 9, 2017. A U.S. District Judge from the District of Delaware sentenced Hill to serve 300 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.

Majd Al Helwani, 24, of Fishers, Indiana, faces four felony counts for unlawfully purchasing and possessing firearms, as well as lying on federal forms while attempting to purchase another firearm.

This case came to the attention of law enforcement as part of Operation Denial, an OCDETF investigation into the international trafficking of fentanyl and other lethal drugs. The case was significantly aided by the national and international coordination led by the multi-agency Special Operations Division near Washington, D.C., as part of Operation Deadly Merchant.

Luis Carlos De Leon-Perez (De Leon), 42, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced for both charges Sept. 24.

Ramon Raudel Campos Murillo, a native of Mexico, who sometimes also goes by Raudel or the alias “Chilango,” is charged with transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Of those arrested, 16 subjects had been previously released by MCJ without honoring the ICE detainer and 78% had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.