News Releases and Statements

Based on a criminal complaint signed in the Western District of Oklahoma and unsealed Tuesday, Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 34, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and a current resident of Weatherford, Oklahoma, was taken into custody by the FBI without incident Feb. 5.

According to court documents, from at least March 2013 to February 2017, Raymond Juiwen Ho, 48, of Vienna, engaged in a large-scale money laundering scheme that resulted in millions of dollars being moved through bank accounts  that Ho or his co-conspirators controlled.

Gilberto Ramos-Prado, 46, was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO officers at the Nogales DeConcini Port of Entry. Gilberto Ramos-Prado most recently came into ICE custody Jan. 12, after serving four months in federal prison for an illegal re-entry conviction.

Special agents from HSI teamed with industry, CBP, FBI, Minneapolis police officers and other partner agencies to identify flea markets, retail outlets and street vendors selling counterfeit goods during the week leading up to Super Bowl LII. They seized fake jerseys, hats, cell-phone accessories and thousands of other bogus items prepared to be sold to unsuspecting consumers.

Paul Stuart Brunt, 51, of Bellevue, Washington, and Rawnd Khaleel Aldalawi, 29, of Seattle, were arrested on a criminal complaint January 24, 2018. 

Slobodan Mutic, 54, is wanted by Croatian authorities for aggravated murder. He was ordered removed on Oct. 23, 2017, by a federal immigration judge based on his criminal conviction. On Jan. 6, 2016, Slobodan was sentenced to two years in prison, for knowingly and willingly possessing a Form I-94, arrival/departure record, knowing it to have been procured by means of any false claim or statement, or to have been otherwise procured by fraud and unlawfully obtained.

Aurelia Rufino-Pilar, 42, from Bakersfield, California, was sentenced Jan. 31 by U.S. District Court Judge Diana Saldana to 108 months in federal prison. She is a U.S. permanent resident but is expected to face deportation proceedings following her release from prison.

Bradley Cobbler, 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced Jan. 29 by the Honorable Amit P. Mehta. Following his prison term, Cobbler will be placed on five years of supervised release.

Jhon Hincapie-Ramirez, 57, was escorted by ERO officers via an ICE Air Operations charter flight and turned over to Colombian law enforcement authorities. In February 2015, Hincapie-Ramirez was charged in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to launder money.

ICE HSI Supervisory Special Agent Celestino Martinez will attend the State of Union Address as a guest of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in recognition of Martinez's extraordinary work combatting transnational criminal gangs in New York.

Raul Perez, 38, sentenced to 24 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release and restitution in the amount of $14,992.96; Alexis Delgado, 44, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release, restitution in the amount of $14,992.96, and a $5,000 fine; and, Leyanis Menendez, 38, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release, restitution in the amount of $14,992.96, and a $5,000 fine.

Victoriano Zamora-Jasso aka “Tata,” 51, from Mexico living in Houston made an appearance Jan. 29 in federal court on the eve of jury selection.

At its Thursday meeting, members of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail (ACRJ) Board voted to uphold current jail policy to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) up to 48 hours in advance of an alien’s release from local custody.

Aliens arrested during this operation are from the following countries:  Mexico (55), Guatemala (10), El Salvador (6), Honduras (4) Bangladesh (3), Cameroon (1) Jordan (1), Laos (1), Liberia (1), Nigeria (1), Panama (1), Philippines (1) and Zimbabwe (1).

Oscar Arturo Alfaro-Romero, a 35-year-old alien fugitive with multiple prior removals, was arrested by ICE May 10, 2017. He was processed as an alien previously removed, and qualified for removal under reinstatement. ICE was subsequently notified that Alfaro-Romero was wanted for crimes in El Salvador.

Since 2014, HSI Bogota has prioritized the investigation of child exploitation/child pornography in Colombia and has conducted extensive training for the CNP and prosecutors.  However, Colombia did not have a cyber forensics laboratory dedicated to analyzing electronic media, which caused a delay in investigations. Now, with the help of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), this state of the art lab will streamline investigations and eventually be used to assist other countries in the region in child exploitation investigations.

Dylan Heatherly, 34, of Lemon Grove, Calif. and William Staples, 57, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, were convicted Thursday of multiple child exploitation crimes, including conspiracy offenses, after a seven-day jury trial.

According to the plea agreement, between about June 2015 and March 2016, Peter Zuccarelli, 62, of Plano, Texas, and his co-conspirators agreed to illegally export RHICs to China and Russia in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Eduardo Escobar, along with other personnel from HSI Colombia, will be featured in part 3 of the documentary series Chain of Command airing Jan. 19 on National Geographic Channel.

ERO deportation officers escorted Fode Youssouf Barro, 29, who was removed from the United States via a commercial flight. Barro was transferred into the custody of French law enforcement authorities upon arrival in Paris.

Eso Razic, a native of the former Yugoslavia and subsequently a citizen of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allegedly concealed his participation in paramilitary organizations during the 1990s Balkans conflict. 

Criminal convictions of those arrested included: felony grand larceny, firearms possession, drug possession, child endangerment, abuse, driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, and forgery.