News Releases and Statements

ICE HSI special agents found that the minors, both from Guatemala, had entered the United States in 2023 as unaccompanied children. Border Patrol transferred both UACs to the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Among the defendants charged are Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch, California who is charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and a rival, Robert Amiryan, 46, of Hollywood, California who is charged with kidnapping.

ICE arrested 275 illegal aliens, including 178 criminal aliens, during a seven-day operation focused on increasing public safety May 11-17.

Luis Alonso Argueta-Diaz, 35, was arrested May 19 in Virginia without incident.

ICE Newark arrested Ludwin Quintero-Rojas, 31, a Colombian national who has a criminal warrant in his home country for aggravated theft and attempted theft with injury. He also has a history of recent shoplifting arrests in the U.S. He is detained at Delaney Hall pending removal proceedings.

These individuals — originally from Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil — will be taken into ICE custody once their criminal cases are resolved. Their criminal charges range from solicitation of prostitution to soliciting a minor for sex.

The operation with BCSO, ICE Homeland Security Investigations Panama City, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Miami-Tallahassee field office, the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Panama City Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, mainly targeted those who overstayed a visa. During the operation, 18 were arrested in Bay County, and three in Leon County, Florida. Those arrested were from India, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica. Most illegal aliens arrested overstayed temporary visas for tourism and recreation.

ICE removed illegally present Salvadoran national Juan Velasquez from the United States to El Salvador May 15. Velasquez has been convicted of multiple felonies in New York, including rape and sexual abuse of a minor.  

One of the suspected shooters, Venezuelan national Ricardo Granadillo Padilla, 25, was arrested on Feb. 8 by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Chicago and Raleigh, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Raleigh, U.S Border Patrol Tactical Unit, the U.S. Marshals Service, and CBP Air and Marine Operations in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Assaults against ICE officers are up over 400% from this time period last year, and part of that is because politicians like Gov. Walz are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.

Officers with ICE Washington, D.C. arrested Mykol Santos-Santos, 25, in Fairfax May 12, after the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor ICE’s 16th immigration detainer lodged against him.

Two members of the Tango Blast gang identified as Juan Miguel Regalado, 28, and Samuel Grajeda Jr., 21, were sentenced May 15 after being convicted of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol’s Laredo Sector and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Felix Raymundo Mora-Gonzalez, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera to 70 months in federal prison. He was further ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution to the known victims and will serve 25 years on supervised release following the completion of his prison term.

It is alleged that on April 30, Miguel Tamup-Tamup, aka Miguel Us-Tamup, 28, struggled with an ICE ERO officer and ICE HSI special agents as they attempted to apprehend him for being illegally present in the United States as authorized by a warrant for arrest of alien and an HSI special agent suffered serious injury.

ICE, in partnership with the FBI, DEA and ATFE, arrested illegally present Brazilian national Cristiano Schneider Capdevila Croxato during a traffic stop in Fall River April 8.

ICE arrested Jorge Martinez Duenas, a 44-year-old illegal alien from Honduras charged with multiple crimes related to child endangerment and abuse, on March 3.

Both aliens were turned over to the legal authorities upon arrival in Guatemala.

After interviews and records checks, 11 individuals were arrested for being illegally present in the United States. The individuals arrested are all Ecuadorian citizens.

On May 15, during enforcement operations, ERO San Diego arrested Jesus Bahena, a 49-year-old Mexican citizen. Bahena’s criminal history includes convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing law enforcement, and dissuading a witness.

According to court documents, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, of Mexico, conspired with others to provide and did attempt to provide grenades to CJNG, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Co-defendant Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez, 27, of Mexico, is charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens into and transport aliens in the United States, straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. Co-defendant Gustavo Castro-Medina, 28, of Mexico, is charged with straw purchasing and firearms trafficking, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Gustavo Torres, 28, and Kiara Jaime-Flores, 34, both from Los Angeles, were arrested for conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

ICE New York City arrested Jeremias Benites Vasquez, a 39-year-old citizen of El Salvador, during a targeted enforcement operation May 14 in Brentwood, New York.

ICE New York City and its federal partners arrested Venezuelan national Edison Guillermo Pinto-Padron, a 26-year-old criminal alien and member of a transnational organized criminal enterprise known as a South American theft group May 14.

Officers with ICE Boston removed Kevin Esneider Garcia-Rojas, 26, from the United States to Colombia April 24.

During the operation, ICE Homeland Security Investigations conducted records checks and found that several of those arrested had prior criminal convictions. Offenses included aggravated criminal sexual assault, bodily harm, possession of a controlled substance, probation violations, evading arrest, transporting noncitizens, domestic violence/strangulation, terroristic threats against family or household members, possession of prohibited weapons in a weapons-free zone, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and evading arrest or detention in the United States.