News Releases and Statements

Ivan Madrigal Zamora, 47, of Cuba, was convicted of two counts of forced labor trafficking and two counts of encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States.

Intellectual property enforcement representatives met at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Virginia, for the 2018 IPR Center Symposium: Leveraging the Influence of Social Media.

Varley Ramos Costa, 53, a Brazilian citizen, entered the United States on an unknown date and place without inspection or parole by an immigration officer.

Allen Nash, 31, was convicted in April of the following charges:  sex trafficking children; conspiracy to commit sex trafficking; sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion; transporting a minor to engage in commercial sex acts; and illegally possessing ammunition after he forced two victims, aged 17 and 19, into the illicit sex trade in the fall of 2014.

Jose Osvaldo Melendez-Rojas and Rosalio Melendez-Rojas were arrested in February 2018 in Mexico to eventually face various charges in the United States, including sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and related offenses. The defendants who were extradited are charged together with three co-defendants, who were arrested in the United States in July 2017.

In collaboration with officers from ERO Baltimore, an ERO Charlotte Fugitive Operations Team located Alfredo Carreon-Lopez at a Forsyth County business Friday. Carreon is suspected to have fled the Baltimore area following the issuance of a Maryland state arrest warrant on charges of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor, first and second-degree assault, and multiple additional sexual offense charges.

Jose Melchor Martinez AKA Jose Luis Martinez-Sanchez, an unlawfully present Mexican national, was arrested Wednesday morning by an ERO New Orleans Special Response Team after executing a federal arrest warrant at a residence in Church Point, Louisiana.

Basel Ramadan and Samir Ramadan were arraigned today in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Danny Chun; bail for Samir Ramadan was set at $2 million cash or $500,000 bond. Fahd Muthana was arraigned on October 11, 2018 in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Chun. All three defendants’ cases were adjourned to December 19, 2018.

The indictment alleges a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, including an attempted shipment on July 17 of 11.7 kilograms of pure methamphetamine from a post office in Garden Grove. Those drugs were part of a nearly 90-pound shipment that appeared to be colorful, decorative Mexican items, including replicas of the 500-year-old Aztec calendar stone.

ICE HSI, working jointly with the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force partners, seized 2,325 pounds of cocaine Oct. 13, from a go-fast vessel near Las Paulinas Beach in the municipality of Luquillo. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $29.6 million.

Patrick Germain, 45, of Evanston, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly and fraudulently attempting to export firearms contrary to the laws and regulations of the United States. 

The leaders of the counterfeit scheme, Stephen Russell and Robert Brown, both of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, were convicted in February and March of this year of trafficking in counterfeit goods charges in Rhode Island federal court; final sentencing in the case is set for January 2019.

Gopaul Parmanand, 41, of Palm Beach Gardens, pleaded guilty to impersonating an ICE Special Agent by fraudulently claiming to be a federal agent and by carrying and displaying a fraudulent badge.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers are among the most highly trained federal law enforcement officers in the United States. But who teaches them to be deportation officers? Answer: instructors at the Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program (BIETP), located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. 

Pedro Silva-Segura, 47, from Mexico but residing illegally in Laredo, Texas, was sentenced Oct. 10 by U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra to 108 months in prison. Since Silva-Segura is not a U.S. citizen he is expected to face deportation proceedings after he completes his prison sentence.

Jason Keiser, 27, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 22, 2017, to the aforementioned charge. 

Gerardo Javier Carreon, 36, from San Antonio was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for his role in transporting illegal aliens inside a tractor trailer. On July 5, 2018, Carreon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.

The operation, which resulted in 40 arrests and resulted in the seizure of 10 kilograms of deadly fentanyl, was the culmination of a multi-agency federal investigation which targeted major traffickers of fentanyl, opioids and other drugs, as well as repeat felony offenders, many of whom were also illegally present in the U.S.; eight aliens had already previously been deported at least once before and will be prosecuted for criminal re-entry.

Sira Abassi, Kenlee Galvez, David Bradford, Jeremias Munoz, and Luis Monsanto-Germosen pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery during August and September of 2017.  The robbery crew committed at least 11 armed robberies in New York City, including stabbing a victim in the torso during a home invasion robbery.

Lucas Hernandez-Torres, 47, pleaded guilty to the charges on April 25, 2017, and is awaiting sentencing, and faces a maximum penalty under federal law of 10 years imprisonment.

Roy David Evans, Jr., age 34, of Essex, Maryland, was sentenced today to 17 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography, possession of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography.