News Releases and Statements

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) discovered 108 illegal aliens at a drop house in west Phoenix Wednesday.

During the course of the operation, ICE HSI agents investigated websites suspected of selling counterfeit goods and illegally distributing copyrighted material in the United States. Once the materials were confirmed as counterfeit or otherwise illegal, seizure orders for the domain names of the websites that sold or distributed the items were obtained from federal magistrate judges.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers on Tuesday deported an illegal alien wanted for homicide in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Federal law enforcement authorities partially unsealed an indictment Tuesday naming 18 individuals, including a former police officer from Watertown, Mass., with drug, extortion and money laundering charges in a case investigated jointly with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Thomas Lee Neal, 42, of Roseville, Calif. was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and three months in prison on charges stemming from a child pornography investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). ICE HSI received substantial assistance on the case from the German Federal Police, Child Pornography Unit.

ICE on Tuesday began using a federal information sharing capability as part of the Secure Communities program in 10 Alabama counties to help federal immigration officials identify criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails by running their fingerprints against federal immigration databases when they are booked into the system.

A federal grand jury has returned indictments charging two gambling businesses and three defendants with conducting an illegal gambling business and money laundering. 11 bank accounts and domain names associated with 10 Internet gambling sites were also seized today. The indictments are the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. ICE.

Robert William Hull, 35, of Nampa, Idaho, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children in March. At his court hearing, he was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison and pay a $1,500 fine.

Mark Zivilik, an investigator with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations' (HSI) London Attache Office, worked closely with London's Metropolitan Police Service to track down Malcom McQuillan, a wanted United Kingdom citizen who had escaped to the United States and then evaded police for nearly 20 years.

The owner and manager of a popular Monterey Park, Calif., video store were arrested Monday morning by agents with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on allegations they illegally imported and sold tens of thousands of Chinese movie DVDs bearing a counterfeit Dolby Digital trademark.

Aftab Ali Khan, 28, formerly of Watertown, Mass., was accompanied by ICE ERO officers on a flight from Boston Logan International Airport to Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan had been in federal custody since May 2010 when he, his uncle, and a man in Maine were arrested following the failed attempt to bomb New York's Times Square on May 1, 2010.

Riley Rich Gibson III, 28, also known as "Trae," pleaded guilty May 20 before U.S. District Judge Ron Clark. He appeared before Judge Clark for a scheduled competency hearing. Once he was found competent, he entered a guilty plea.

A Polish national wanted on an INTERPOL warrant for the beating death of a person in his native country was deported from the United States Thursday by officers with U.S. ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Zbigniew Zajac, 37, was removed to Warsaw, Poland from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Timothy S. Kelly, 40, a former swim coach for the Attleboro YMCA and North Attleboro High School, was sentenced Friday in federal court on child pornography charges, following an investigation conducted jointly with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the North Attleboro Police Department.

Greg Squire, a veteran special agent assigned to U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston was among several law enforcement officials from Massachusetts and North Carolina honored Thursday by Attorney General Eric Holder for their leadership in protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

A Mexican national captured recently in Stanislaus County who is wanted for murder in his native country was turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials at the border south of San Diego Friday morning by officers from U.S. ICE. Jose Ramos Negrete-Arriola, 36, is charged with gunning someone down at a Mother's Day street dance...

Harjinder Singh Brar, 36, of Lynden, Wash., pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to possess Ecstasy with intent to distribute.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested two Dominican Republic citizens and seized 56 kilograms of cocaine on Thursday during an operation that resulted in the sinking of the smuggling boat.

U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents seized 880 boxes of illegally imported drug paraphernalia, accessories and counterfeit goods from an Orlando business late Thursday night. Included in the items seized were bongs, pipes and counterfeit trademark items with hidden compartments intended for illegal drug use.

Ferney Quinones De La Cruz, 34, of Colombia, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force South, comprised of agents from U.S. ICE...

Buddy Anderson pleaded guilty on Thursday to two felony child pornography/obscenity offenses. Persons hired to clean his former apartment on North Clay Street in Ennis, Texas, discovered child pornography photographs on the apartment's porch that were discarded as garbage. Anderson and his wife, Sharon Lee Anderson, had fled to Nevada...

Lee Michael Eckler, 31, of Rockledge, Fla., was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison for enticing a minor via the Internet to engage in sexual acts, following an investigation by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) and U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

James E. Johnston, 69, is named in the indictment which stems from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Two individuals will be arraigned in state court Friday following their arrest in Los Angeles on criminal charges stemming from their role in a scheme involving illegal aliens from Asia who traveled to Kern County and used altered Canadian passports and legitimate Social Security numbers to obtain valid California driver's licenses and state ids...