News Releases and Statements

U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Cruz Miguel Aguina, 40, to eight months in prison following a guilty plea to immigration fraud. Aguina was also judicially denaturalized as a U.S. citizen.

During the first half of FY 2023, DHS increased removals and returns to 225,483, up from 170,896 over the same period in FY 2022. The FY 2023 figures includes nearly 66,000 removals, 48,381 of which were conducted via ICE removal flights and are in addition to CBP total southwest land border Title 42 expulsions, which reached 1,079,507 in that same timeframe.

Armando Cesar Zacarias, 37, is accused of starting a fire and robbing the Itapuense Municipality in Paraguay.

Officers with ICE's ERO Seattle removed Omer Abdi Mohamed, 38, a citizen of Somalia convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, to his home country April 28.

Daniel Alan Lewis, 53, of Hemet, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. As part of his plea, Lewis further admitted that in November and December 2021, he passed numerous counterfeit savings bonds at banks in both the Houston and Brownsville areas.

Law enforcement conducted more seizures than any previous operation, including 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs that include 64 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics, and $53.4 million in cash and virtual currencies.

During Child Abuse Prevention Month, and after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HSI San Juan brought back its iGuardian Summit, a summit focused on keeping children and teens safe from online predators through education and awareness. In its seventh presentation, the event reached more than 1,700 public school students between the ages of 12 and 16 from the Caguas regional district.

The investigation revolved around subjects attempting to smuggle narcotics aboard a vessel traveling from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. Marine interdiction agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped the vessel off the coast of Loiza, Puerto Rico, and arrested the subjects, two of whom jumped off the vessel.

U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana sentenced Denny Fuentes, 48, from Splendora, Texas, to 15 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Victor Manuel Romero-Diaz, 40, of El Salvador, received his conviction at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond April 14.

Pedro Saldivar Jr., 46, received the sentence without the possibility of parole for one count of transportation of child pornography. 

HSI Newark and representatives from HSI's CPAA program; DOS; and CBP conducted a repatriation ceremony April 25, 2023, hosted by the Bulgarian ambassador, to return ancient coins and other miscellaneous materials seized by U.S. law enforcement officials to the Bulgarian government.

The total number of SEVIS records for active F-1 and M-1 students was 1,362,157 in calendar year 2022, an increase of 10.1 percent from calendar year 2021.

HSI in partnership with ACAMS issued an alert today outlining anti-money laundering red flags and compliance guidance associated with so-called “pig-butchering,” a rising global fraud scheme that targets victims by earning their confidence over the course of weeks or months before soliciting money for fraudulent crypto-asset investments.

San Diego resident Roberto Salazar II, 26, who until his arrest was an active-duty U.S. Marine stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, was sentenced in federal court April 21, to 144 months in prison for his role in a years-long drug importation and distribution conspiracy that involved dozens of smuggling events.

The Brazilian national, who is wanted for the Brazilian offense of fraud/use of false document, has been unlawfully present in the United States since his visa expired in November 2016.

Argelio Chavero, 50, of Alton, admitted to aiding and abetting another man to bring meth into the country before a federal judge.

ERO New York City removed Gina Zhou, 35, to the Marshall Islands April 18.

ICE's ERO announced Miguel Vergara’s selection to the Senior Executive Service April 25. Vergara will serve as the field office director (FOD) for the Harlingen field office.

The man, 39, entered the U.S. lawfully in July 2021 and remained after his visa expired.

An HSI Fayetteville investigation revealed that Steven Luckett, 38, sexually assaulted five minor children — some for years. U.S. District Court Judge Lee P. Rudofsky sentenced Luckett.

Nelly Guerra, 39, from Edinburg, pleaded guilty before a federal judge for importing 24 kilograms of crystal meth. According to court documents, Guerra attempted to enter the United States through the Donna Port of Entry.

On April 24, Hilda Diana Guerra-Villarreal, 74; Raul Rene Villarreal, 51; and Alma Urania Garcia, 33, all of Zapata, pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct and conducting illegal gambling in Webb and Zapata counties. Four others — Rodolfo Ricardo Villarreal Jr., 37; Juan Vasco, 52; Ruben Samuel Villarreal, 28; and Maria Mendieta, 42 — entered their pleas to the same charges in 2022. Rodolfo Villareal Jr., Vasco and Ruben Villareal are from Zapata, and Mendieta is from Bruni.

A federal judge sentenced Taylor Melton Addington, 33, of Phoenix, April 13 to six years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his involvement in trafficking methamphetamine following an investigation by HSI.

HSI San Juan special agents arrested Ignacio Manuel Delgado Fernandez in San Juan’s Cupey area for the distribution, receipt, transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material. The Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force assisted in the investigation.