News Releases and Statements

Oscar Vega-Gomez, 29, formerly of Galloway, Ohio, was arrested in Indianapolis late Friday as he left an area hotel

HSI has one of the broadest legal authorities of any U.S. federal criminal investigative agency, and has longstanding specialized expertise in defeating transnational organizations that threaten our borders, our nation’s security and our public’s safety.

Wilkes-Barre resident Travis Humphrey, 27, previously pleaded guilty to recruiting and transporting a then 16-year-old female to engage in commercial sex acts in motels in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

See Kee Chin, aka Alfred Chin, 56, of Hong Kong, was arrested in February after he handed over an $85,000 payment to undercover HSI special agents and attempted to pick up 10 accelerometers. Court records state Chin had indicated he planned to smuggle the parts out of the country in his suitcase. He previously discussed hiding the items in children’s toys.

Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 66, was found guilty of procuring her U.S. citizenship unlawfully.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending Nov. 7, 2014

SA Fry boarded the vessel to find the injured crying in pain, in shock and unable to think clearly or move. SA Fry physically removed them from the vessel, handing them to ASAC Fry. SA Fry carried one non-ambulatory woman to a secure secondary location to a brick structure to shield her from another possible explosion.

The seizures follow the arrest Wednesday of Blake Benthall, aka "Defcon" for his alleged role in operating the Silk Road 2.0 website. This action constitutes the largest law enforcement action to date against criminal websites operating on the Tor network, a special network of computers on the Internet designed to conceal the true IP addresses of the computers on the network.

Ronny Lee Waldrip, 63, originally came under suspicion after he traveled to Honolulu in February 2012. Upon his arrival, law enforcement discovered Waldrip brought a laptop computer containing sexually explicit photos and videos of minors, including videos showing Waldrip engaging in sexually explicit conduct with minor females.

The 26 current graduates are joining the fight against transnational criminal organizations after spending nearly three weeks in classroom seminars and practical exercises as part of the ITAT program, which provides vetted foreign law enforcement officers with training similar to that of the agency's special agents.

Michael T. Laursen, 47, was the subject of a multiagency investigation, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). He was convicted at trial in May.

Hayatullah Dawari, 62, of Philadelphia was sentenced to two years in federal prison Sept. 19 after an investigation found the man had ties to the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin anti-western insurgent group active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dawari pleaded guilty to two counts of immigration fraud, and the judge suspended the sentence in favor of immediate deportation.

Blake Benthall, 26, aka “Defcon” was arrested Thursday in San Francisco, California in connection with his operation and ownership of the Silk Road 2.0 website, a hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement.

HSI special agents arrested Angel L. Gonzalez-Acevedo, 50, at his place of residence after receiving information from the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) regarding a cellular phone that allegedly belonged to Gonzalez-Acevedo containing sexually explicit material involving a minor later identified as Jane Doe.

Talon G. Wright, 38, of Urbana, Illinois, was indicted on two counts of sexually exploiting a minor and one count of possessing child pornography.

Aung Gaw, 26, aka Michael Gaw, of Fremont, California, pleaded guilty to the child pornography charge following his arrest in November 2013 after HSI special agents executed a search warrant at his California residence.

Carlos Ivan Rivas-Castro, 22, was removed to El Salvador Wednesday aboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, ERO officers turned the fugitive over to representatives from the Salvadoran national police and Interpol.

Abel Hernandez-Labra, 44, a resident of Hampton, Iowa, was convicted of the following charges: one count of making false statements in a passport application, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of making a false claim of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and one count of harboring an illegal alien.

Durable Inc., located in Wheeling, Illinois, manufactures aluminum products for retail and food-service customers.

These two Cabrera-Guzman accomplices were Cesar Mujica-Aranda, aka "Oscar Gomez," 25, a resident of Liberty, Missouri, and Bernardino Bautista-Hernandez, aka "Brujo," 32, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri.

Operation Pac Rim, a three-year investigation, began in September 2009. HSI, in collaboration with international partners, seized the equivalent of more than $170 million dollars in U.S. currency and more than $800 million dollars in property worldwide.

Michael Elliot Papac, 47, of Alturas, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez for receiving and distributing child pornography. Upon completion of his prison term, Papac will be subject to a lifetime of supervised release.

Yao Vignon Kpade, 32, of Overland Park, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of electronic access device fraud. In his plea, he admitted that while he was working at a Taco Bell in Belton, Missouri, he used the skimmer to obtain information from customers’ credit cards.

Former U.S. Army Sergeant Dexroy Germaine Hamilton, 31, was sentenced Oct. 31.

Donald Record, 52, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in May to possessing prepubescent child pornography.