News Releases and Statements

The enforcement effort was implemented to address removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of attempted murder, murder-second degree, domestic violence, rape by force, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or driving under the influence who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under local, state or federal supervision prior to the ICE enforcement action.

Hugo Benjamin Tijerina, 36, of Pharr, pleaded guilty in federal court March 21 after admitting he received videos and images containing child sexual abuse material on his laptop.

ICE's ERO Philadelphia apprehended 21 removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of felony rape, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or driving under the influence who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under supervision during a nation-wide enforcement effort between March 4 and March 13.

Since its launch on March 13, 2023, Operation Blue Lotus has led to 18 seizures, 16 federal arrests and two state arrests. Those seizures prevented over 900 pounds of fentanyl, over 700 pounds of methamphetamines and over 100 pounds of cocaine from entering the United States through March 19.

Israel Flores Jr., 21, of Los Fresnos, appeared before a federal judge and admitted to possessing child sexual abuse material on a flash drive he obtained while he was a student at the University of Texas.

Elias Herrera, 31; Liz Jomayra Diaz-Colon, 23; and Jonathan Guemez, 30, previously pleaded guilty and admitted they had conspired together to import the drugs into the United States. All three people are from Nashville, Tennessee.

On March 20, Jose Jesus Hernandez-Valle, 54, pleaded guilty to smuggling various calibers of firearms into Mexico.  

A federal judge sentenced Moises Moreno, 38, of Moreno Valley, to 200 months in prison March 20 for importing more than 36 kilograms of fentanyl from Mexico into the United States.

ICE ERO Newark apprehended two removable noncitizens, one having been convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and the other convicted of felony endangering the welfare of a child (sexual conduct) during a nationwide enforcement effort from March 4 to March 13.

A federal judge sentenced Ramiro Helibuerto Cuenca-Campos, 27, of Cuenca Provincia, Azuay, Ecuador to 84 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Officers with ICE's ERO San Francisco apprehended eight removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of attempted murder, murder second degree, domestic violence, rape by force, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, or drug distribution or trafficking who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under supervision during a nation-wide enforcement effort from March 4 to March 13. 

This operation was implemented to address removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of attempted murder, murder-second degree, domestic violence, rape by force, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or driving under the influence who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under supervision.

Officers with ICE's ERO Salt Lake City apprehended 13 removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of assault, arson, burglary, battery, felony lewdness, felony sexual coercion, conspiracy to commit a crime and cruelty to animals during a nationwide enforcement effort from March 4 to March 13.

Officers with ICE's ERO Denver apprehended four removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of driving under the influence who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under supervision during a nationwide enforcement effort from March 4 to March 13.

Officers with the ICE ERO Seattle office apprehended three removable noncitizens identified as having been convicted of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or driving under the influence, who had been released from incarceration on parole or placed on probation into communities under supervision during a nationwide enforcement effort from March 4 through March 13.

Officers with ICE's ERO apprehended 25 criminal noncitizens during a nationwide enforcement effort between March 4 and March 13.

Officials identified the noncitizens as having been convicted of crimes such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, or driving under the influence; or as those who were released from incarceration on parole or placed on community probation under supervision.

Officials flew Omar Martinez-Suarez, a 39-year-old unlawfully present Mexican national, from the Toledo Express Airport to the Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas on March 7. On the same day, ERO Harlingen escorted him via ground transportation to the border and turned him over to Mexican authorities.

Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Kansas City Taekuk Cho and U.S. Attorney Steven Russell announced that a federal judge found Servando V. Urias, 48, of Mexico, guilty of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine.

Officers with ERO Boston’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested a 49-year-old unlawfully present Cape Verdean woman in Whitman on March 9. The woman is wanted in Cape Verde on multiple charges of forgery.

On March 8, a flight coordinated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Air Operations Unit flew Erick Gomez-Gomez, 33, of Guatemala, from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Alexandria International Airport, Louisiana.

Coinciding with the ChipMixer takedown efforts, Minh Quốc Nguyễn, 49, of Hanoi, Vietnam, was charged today in Philadelphia with money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and identity theft connected to ChipMixer’s operation.

A court convicted Dustin Coates, 36, of Cherokee, of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, following a joint HSI investigation.

ERO Houston, with assistance from ERO Colombia and the SAFE Task Force in Colombia, removed Jorge Luis Molina-Hernandez, a 35-year-old Colombian national, from the U.S. on March 13. Molina-Hernandez has ties to the “Bloque Sur Andaqui” and the former AUC paramilitary organization.

Jairo Soares-Pereira, 37, was convicted by a criminal court in the Brazilian city of Itambacuri of fraud and sentenced to serve a three-year, four-month prison sentence in September 2019.