News Releases and Statements

An investigation by ICE has resulted in a one-year sentence for passport fraud for Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, a 69-year-old Columbian national, former archdiocese priest and convicted child molester, Feb. 28.

The operation resulted in the administrative arrest of four Brazilian nationals who had no status to enter or remain in the United States legally, or who had violated the terms of their lawful admission into the U.S.

During this operation, ICE and local police identified and arrested 15 individuals for the violation of federal law involving the use/manufacturing of an access device with the intent to defraud.

Alejandro Munoz and Abel Pena-Garcia, who are identical twins, were involved in a fraudulent dispute scheme that targeted third party payment platforms, like PayPal and Square.

ICE removed two illegally present Honduran nationals convicted of felony sexual offenses, March 3.

ICE arrested criminal alien and fugitive from justice Leandro Romano de Souza, 27, for a felony drug trafficking conviction in Brazil, Jan. 27.

Batista Matos has been removed from the United States on three previous occasions. His first removal was on Oct. 8, 2010, when he was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol after he entered illegally near Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. He was then encountered and removed again in 2011, 2019 and 2023.

Canadian law enforcement provisionally arrested 23 Canadian nationals March 4 after they were indicted by federal grand jury in Vermont for participation in a “grandparent scam” uncovered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The scam allegedly defrauded elderly individuals in more than 40 states of over $21 million.

ICE successfully removed Napolean Ahmed Mbonyunkiza, a 56-year-old Rwandan convicted sex offender and human rights violator, to his home country, March 4.

ICE completed the removal of Prince Solomon Knox, 62, a Sierra Leonean national, to his home country March 1.

Manual Domingos Pita, of Wesley Chapel, previously pleaded guilty to those charges on July 9, 2024.

On Feb. 26, ICE personnel joined CBP at the Port of New York/Newark in conducting an unannounced inspection of a CBP-bonded warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey, to ensure individuals working in government-regulated facilities were lawfully present and permitted to work in the United States.

ICE arrested Dieudonne Ishimwe, 38, a Rwandan foreign fugitive wanted for rape, in Fort Worth, March 3.

Last week, a grand jury returned an indictment against Edgar Guadalupe Jimenez-Aguilar, an illegal alien living in Phoenix, for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

ICE arrested Anderson Nunez-Hernandez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, as he was exiting the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Complex, Feb. 21.

ICE arrested Amilcar Josue Villalvir Mendez, a citizen of Honduras, at the Northampton County Prison in Easton, Feb. 27. P

Ernesto Cordero, 54, of Bradenton, faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison.

According to court documents, around 2022, agents with ICE Nashville, FBI, and DEA began investigating large shipments of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills that were inscribed “M30,” methamphetamine, and marijuana that someone was shipping to Tennessee and approximately 16 other states from California.

The arrests were part of a multi-agency enforcement effort conducted by ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety – Criminal Investigation Division, and the Texas Office of Attorney General.

According to the plea agreements, the Drug Enforcement Administration identified a group of individuals working to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine and the proceeds of those sales during 2022.

Feliciano Rodriguez, 47, of Orlando, was ordered to pay $3,338,558 in restitution, and ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release.

Ping Ping Zheng, 37, of Jacksonville, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. As part of the plea agreement, Zheng has agreed to forfeit to the United States a residence in Jacksonville and a transit van.

An investigation by ICE has led to Mario Antonio Mejia-Calderon, 34, an illegal alien from Honduras, being charged with possession of a counterfeit permanent resident card – or “green card” – and illegal re-entry by a previously deported alien.

ICE arrested Simeon Roosenov Moutafov, a citizen of Bulgaria, Feb. 24 with a final order of removal.

An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in Kerin Orellana-Serrano, 30, an illegal alien from Mexico, being arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with illegal reentry by a previously deported alien. Orellana-Serrano faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.