News Releases and Statements

The expanded center will provide ICE’s HSI with enhanced operational and training capabilities in order to meet the growing cyber mission of the agency and increasing workload of criminal cases with a cyber-nexus.

The conference was hosted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Attaché Office in Mexico City, the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT).

Walter Guillermo Reyes, 42, was repatriated on board a charter flight coordinated by ERO’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, ERO officers turned the suspect over to officials from Guatemala’s Policia Nacional Civil (PNC).

Illegal wildlife trade has reached alarming levels globally. The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos report that one elephant is killed every 15 minutes and one rhino is killed every nine to 11 hours. Each year, more than 35,000 elephants are killed for their ivory tusks and more than 1,000 rhinos are killed for their horns. Experts predict that if the mass slaughter continues, these beautiful creatures will soon become extinct.

Ryan Anthony Winner of Olney, Texas, 33, was arrested July 20 and made his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Wichita Falls, Texas, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert K. Roach ordered that he remain in federal custody pending a probable cause and detention hearing set for July 28.

Yoeldis Melian-Mastrapa, 29, is the latest removal among eight Cuban nationals implicated in a human trafficking ring that allegedly operated in Ecuador. The ring was discovered in December 2013 as a result of a joint investigation between ICE HSI Attaché Office in Ecuador and the Ecuadorian government.

On Friday, June 19, 20 special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Special Response Teams (SRT) completed the agency’s first Protective Security Operations Training Program (PSOTP).

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending July 17, 2015

Edwin Fernandez, 37, was bringing dozens of kilos of cocaine into United States via Philadelphia International Airport from the Dominican Republic. About 70 kilograms of cocaine in Philadelphia and the Dominican Republic was intercepted during the seizure and investigation.

William Akers, 46, was arrested by special agents from ICE's HSI hours after law enforcement made a public appeal to identify a man seen in a video sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.

Luis Ramon Casellas, 42, of Canovanas, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Camille L. Velez-Rive of the District of Puerto Rico to three counts of bulk cash smuggling and one count of theft of government property. Sentencing before U.S. District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo of the District of Puerto Rico will be scheduled at a later date.

Members of one conspiracy allegedly transported, or assisted in transporting, a substance represented to be cocaine on flights from DFW airport.

Daniel Chase Harris was sentenced today to 600 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for production of child pornography, use of a facility of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, receipt of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.

Justin Strait, 26, from Scranton, Pennsylvania allegedly conspired with others to use a minor female to engage in prostitution at various motels in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties during February through August 2014.

Bernardo Guzman, 27, of Jersey City, previously pleaded guilty on April 7, 2015, to possessing firearms while being a previously convicted felon.

Naga Srinivasa Rao Pilla, 38, faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison for bribery of a public official. Pilla was also charged with procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully.

Tony Lee Drum, 32, was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD). His case was successfully prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced the following three defendants to 262 months imprisonment; Julio Vargas-Hernandez, 39, Gustavo Morales-Manriquez, 32, both from Mexico and Osiris Bulos-Gonzalez, from Pharr.

Babar Ahmad, 41, was extradited to the United States in 2012 to face charges for operating a family of websites collectively known as Azzam Publications, which an HSI investigation determined was established to “incite the believers” and also to raise money for known terrorist groups, including the Taliban.

Andre Clarke, 36, from Bronx, New York, was allegedly conspiring to distribute the drugs in Vermont from 2011 through June 2014. Clarke has been employed as a New York City police officer since 2002.

Julio Cesar Reyes-Rodriguez, 42, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the San Ysidro port of entry. Reyes-Rodriguez is charged with murder in an arrest warrant issued in May by the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (PGJDF).

Timothy Glenn Williams, 50, of Carl Junction, Missouri, was sentenced July 12 by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo to 120 months in federal prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. Williams pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography Nov. 12, 2014.

Buyantod Thomas, 30, of Concord, was sentenced July 9 for aiding and abetting the submission of fraudulent asylum applications. The charges are the result of a multiyear probe by Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force headed by ICE's HSI.

Ryan T. Hayman, 39, of Champaign, Illinois, was indicted July 10 by a federal grand jury in Springfield. The indictment alleges that in March Hayman distributed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment further alleges that in June Hayman possessed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.