News Releases and Statements

ICE apprehended Sostenes Perez-Lopez, 59, an illegal Guatemalan alien charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in Brighton, Feb. 18.

ICE removed Miguel Antonio Verdugo-Garcia, a 49-year-old Mexican fugitive wanted in Mexico for homicide, March 13.

ICE, with assistance from the FBI, arrested Douglas De Souza Gontijo, 34, a native and citizen of Brazil wanted by Brazilian authorities for drug trafficking related crimes, March 13.

As a result of the operation, 11 aliens were identified and arrested as working on the port and amenable to removal proceedings. The aliens came from Mexico, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

ICE, with assistance from local and federal partners, apprehended Ismail Sayik, a citizen of Turkey illegally present in the United States, March 4 during a routine enforcement operation in New Jersey.

ICE arrested illegally present Roshan Tamang, a citizen of Bhutan, March 11, who had a final order of removal.

An investigation by ICE led to Tomas Juarez-Santos, 45, a four-time removed criminal illegal alien from Mexico with two prior convictions for illegal reentry after deportation, being sentenced March 11 to more than a year in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States.

ICE apprehended Ismael Efrain Lopez-Bautista, 43, a citizen of Guatemala, March 11 for illegal reentry after deportation in Vineland, New Jersey.

ICE arrested an illegal Turkish national charged with raping a Massachusetts resident when officers with ICE Boston apprehended Bilal Karayigit, 26, in Burlington Feb. 19.

ICE deported Baltazar Pantoja Calderon, a 43-year-old eight-time removed criminal alien convicted of kidnapping and several other criminal offenses in the U.S., to his home country of Mexico March 13.

Tomas Emilio Hernandez Cruz, 71, from West Park was arrested at his residence after an investigation into fraudulent claims he made on his immigration application.

ICE transported Leticia Caballero Guadarrama, a 53-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, to the Laredo Port of Entry where she was released into Mexico.

In 2024, the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force initiated 1,220 investigations and resolved 728 Cyber Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators seized 122 electronic devices containing over 10 million images and videos, including more than 48,000 identified as child sexual abuse material.

ICE and their law enforcement partners targeted transnational criminal organizations known to operate in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. These organizations include the notorious MS-13 and 18th Street gangs.

ICE, USMS and ATFE arrested Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a 36-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic, in Philadelphia during a joint operation, March 12.

ICE and the DEA arrested Stivenson Omar Perez-Ajtzalan, 19, an illegal Guatemalan alien charged with aggravated rape of a child, in Lawrence Jan. 30.

The Brazilian alien illegally entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Robert Earl Cochran Jr., a 63-year-old resident of Alvin, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to serve 25 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by 10 years of supervised release, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.

ICE removed Amal Said, a citizen of Pakistan and convicted international drug trafficker with a final order of removal, to Pakistan March 5.

Emmanuel F. Almonte Mejia, 40, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 60 months, Feb. 27 and Hector Luiz De La Cruz Nunez, 32, was sentenced to 60 months, Feb. 5 by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Both men and co-conspirator, Loanny F. Duran Hiciano, 37, previously plead guilty for their roles in a Philadelphia area drug mill.

Mikhail Gouldson, 36, of Paterson, was charged on March 10 at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in a five-count indictment with one count of dealing in firearms without a license, one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, one count of possession of machine guns, one count of possession of unregistered firearms and one count of attempted trafficking in firearms.

The arrests occurred during a week-long enhanced enforcement operation ending March 8 in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Roswell, New Mexico where ICE was joined by CBP, the FBI, the ATFE and the USMS.

ICE along with the DEA arrested Roxana Beatriz Ayala-Duran, 41, an illegally present Salvadoran national convicted in Virginia of assault, in Alexandria Feb. 25.

In December 2023, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Concord, New Hampshire Police Department began investigating a sophisticated gift card fraud scheme that is perpetuated by criminal organizations in China.

ICE arrested and removed illegal alien Jose Antonio Garcia, 51, March 10, to Mexico after Calipatria State Prison honored an immigration detainer following the alien’s scheduled release from prison for conviction of attempted murder.