Top 5 ICE news stories for the week ending July 30, 2010

July 26, 2010 - Seattle WA: Drug smuggler linked to Hells Angels sentenced to 14 years in prison

Following an investigation by ICE's Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a man with an extensive criminal history was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and six years of supervised release for his role in distributing ecstasy. He was arrested in September 2009 for picking up $2 million worth of ecstasy from a co-conspirator in a remote location in the San Juan Islands.

July 28, 2010 - Dallas, TX: ICE agents arrest a Denton County's 'most wanted' fugitive

ICE's Office of Enforcement and Removal (ERO) arrested one of the most wanted criminals in Denton County, Texas on July 22. Enrique Arias Idelfonso, an illegal alien from Mexico, was wanted by the Denton County Sheriff's Office and by ICE since he had illegally re-entered the U.S. after having been deported twice before in August 2005 and 2009. Arias Idelfonso was listed on the Denton County Crime Stoppers website as being one of its "Most Wanted Fugitives" on an outstanding warrant for possessing more than four grams, but less than 200 grams of a controlled substance.

July 28, 2010 - Richmond, VA: 87 convicted criminal aliens and fugitives arrested in ICE enforcement surges

Seventy-five foreign nationals with criminal records and 12 fugitives were arrested in Virginia and Washington D.C., following two ICE enforcement surges in June and July 2010. During the operations, ICE officers were able to locate and arrest 75 criminal aliens with prior convictions for a variety of crimes, including robbery and narcotics possession with intent to distribute and 12 immigration fugitives. Full story

July 29, 2010 - Atlanta, GA: Former Atlanta driver's license examiner and co-conspirator sentenced for selling Georgia driver's licenses

Gbemisola Wellington-Salako and Jules Armand Che Siewe Achou, both of Georgia, were sentenced on July 29, 2010, in U.S. District Court for conspiring to issue Georgia driver's licenses to people who did not qualify for them, but who were willing to pay up to $2,500 per license. "People like Wellington-Salako, who are willing to violate the public's trust for money, could potentially be impacting the national security of our country by giving legitimate documents to those who aren't entitled to them," said Brock Nicholson, ICE Acting Special Agent in Charge in Atlanta. "These acts will not go unpunished."

July 29, 2010 - Washington, D.C.: ICE -- a proven track record as the prevailing agency investigating human rights violations

Over the past century, the world has seen an endless string of violent conflicts resulting in death, mutilation, rape, disappearance and displacement of millions of innocent men, women and children. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the largest investigative wing of the Department of Homeland Security, and is responsible for ensuring that perpetrators of war crimes, genocide, torture and gross human rights abuses do not evade justice and accountability for their crimes by hiding in the U.S.