ICE consists of three directorates to accomplish the agency’s mission, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Management and Administration (M&A).
ICE's primary mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.
Catch up on ICE’s most popular news stories from the week ending March 25, 2016
ICE executes its mission through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes, focusing on preventing terrorism, immigration enforcement and combating transnational crime.
Aron Alexi Herrera Munguia, 29, from Honduras, was sentenced to 40 years for raping and robbing two women who owned a bar in the Houston, Texas, area. Munguia is the sixth member of Los Tumbadores to be convicted in state court as part of this investigation.
Oscar Degaldo Flores, a.k.a. Flaco, 24, of El Salvador, and Luis Colindres, a.k.a. Listo and Joe, 21, of Honduras, were also charged with conspiracy; witness tampering; using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and causing death through the use of a firearm.
A federal grand jury this week indicted eight MS-13 gang members on the following criminal charges: racketeering conspiracy; attempted murder in aid of racketeering; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; and using, carrying and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Gang members allegedly committed 5 murders, conspired to murder 8 persons, engaged in kidnappings, extortion, and drug trafficking.
Joel “Animal” Martinez, was sentenced for racketeering conspiracy involving the murder of a 15-year-old boy in East Boston as a result of the HSI Boston investigation.
Frankie Vasquez, 39, of Carson, was arrested in connection with an indictment that charges him and 50 other members and associates of the Canta Ranas organization, a wide-ranging criminal enterprise which operates primarily in Santa Fe Springs and Whittier under the control of a member of the Mexican Mafia.
Detective John Saro Balian, 45, of Seal Beach, Calif., was taken into custody without incident at his residence. Balian, who is charged in a criminal complaint with making false statements to investigators during an interview last year, is expected to make his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
HSI’s El Salvador country team led an agenda focused on cross border collaboration and joint U.S./Salvadoran efforts on the ground that included the participation of the Salvadoran Attorney General, Douglas Melendez and the Director General of the Policia Nacional Civil, Howard Agusto Cotto. The U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, and other enforcement partners, participants discussed first-hand issues of gang-violence, insecurity, economic difficulties in El Salvador and their impact on the U.S., as well as our interagency team’s continued effort to confront those problems.
HSI’s El Salvador country team led an agenda focused on cross border collaboration and joint U.S./Salvadoran efforts on the ground that included the participation of the Salvadoran Attorney General, Douglas Melendez and the Director General of the Policia Nacional Civil, Howard Agusto Cotto. The U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, and other enforcement partners, participants discussed first-hand issues of gang-violence, insecurity, economic difficulties in El Salvador and their impact on the U.S., as well as our interagency team’s continued effort to confront those problems.
A total of 475 individuals were arrested during this ongoing enforcement effort, most of which were confirmed as gang members and affiliates. The most prominent gangs with arrests during this operation were MS-13 with 274 arrests and the 18th street gang with 15 arrests. This operation yielded 227 total criminal arrests and 248 administrative arrests.
