News Releases and Statements

HSI special agents executed a federal search warrant at the residence of Jonathan Gamson which permitted them to preview a computer at the residence, but not seize it. The Internet history on the computer revealed that it had been used to view multiple websites containing child pornography.

The defendants allegedly made false representations, failed to pay dividends to investors since October 2012 and allocated investor money for their personal expenses instead of purchasing commodities or paying interest promised to over 50 individual investors who had invested a total of at least $4 million.

The conspiracy was allegedly orchestrated by a Los Angeles attorney who paid bribes as high as $10,000 to officials with several agencies in DHS to help secure immigration benefits for aliens he represented.

Norberto Rivera Aguilar, 26, of Mexico, pleaded guilty one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Jason Barry was recognized in Washington, D.C., May 8, by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for his work combating child sexual exploitation and rescuing child victims in Mexico.

A Canadian man was sentenced Monday to time served (176 days) in federal prison following his guilty plea to illegally possessing fraudulent U.S. government identity documents.

Law enforcement officers conducted a forensic examination of Orlando Ismael Muniz's computer and found 17,847 images and 149 movies depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of prepubescent children.

James Postlethwaite, a Canadian man who smuggled drugs owned by the outlaw biker gang Hells Angels, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Scott Eargood and Santos Zamora-Escobar were indicted Tuesday on drug charges related to their possession of more than 110 pounds of methamphetamine.

These are some of the sentiments expressed about ICE by a number of its law enforcement partners from around the globe.

Salvador Lopez, a local man who placed ads online seeking young girls "to have some fun," remains in federal custody after his arrest Wednesday by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A resident of Taiwan who has been linked by the U.S. government to the supply of weapons machinery to North Korea and his son, who resides in suburban Chicago, face federal charges for allegedly conspiring to violate U.S. laws designed to thwart the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Miguel A. Lavenant shipped over 50 kilos of cocaine from San Diego to the East Coast, some of which was later distributed in Delaware.

A Diamond Bar woman, who along with her husband owns a Los Angeles-area toy wholesaler, was ordered Monday to serve a total of 14 months in custody for participating in an elaborate scheme known as a Black Market Peso Exchange, which is an underground money-transfer system.

ICE returned a Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton, looted from the Gobi Desert and illegally smuggled into the United States, to the government of Mongolia Monday during a repatriation ceremony at a Manhattan hotel. The Bataar was seized in New York by ICE's HSI special agents after it sold at a Manhattan auction for $1.05 million.

A Kent gun dealer, Mark E. Bryant, and his stepson, Andrew Gagley, were arrested Friday following their indictment on seven criminal counts related to illegal gun sales and distribution of controlled substances.

The owner and operator of a Korean 'doumi' business, which provided female escorts to customers at nightclubs in Annandale, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit alien harboring, following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) case.

Wally Nguyen of Danville, Pa., was convicted May 2 for conspiracy to commit money laundering, harboring, transporting and employing illegal aliens. The conviction is the result of an extensive investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Joshua Conde, 27, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Lawson Hardrick, Jr., of Calexico, was sentenced April 29. A federal jury convicted Hardrick in January of two felony counts of possession of images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Jorge Garcia-Mejia, a Guatemalan man in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and under criminal investigation by local authorities, passed away Tuesday at the Eloy Detention Center of an apparent suicide.

Julian Luna-Nieto was sentenced Thursday to 28 years for methamphetamine trafficking as well as conspiring to tamper with witnesses by using intimidation and threats.

The group allegedly exploited dozens of women, some of whom were trafficked from Mexico to New York and forced to engage in prostitution.

Damian C. Mora, 30, of El Centro, was indicted April 10 by a federal grand jury for sexual exploitation of a minor. He was taken into custody April 9 after HSI special agents executed a search warrant at the El Centro home where he had resided since January.