News Releases and Statements

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law – all individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

Daniel Zintura Sr., a 49-year-old resident of Alamo, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to serve 151 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute 8 kilograms of cocaine. Zintura pleaded guilty to the charges on May 25.

ICE Directive 15006.1 codifies and strengthens the agency’s best practices and supports DHS's broader efforts to combat transnational repression by helping ensure Red Notices and Wanted Person Diffusions are issued for legitimate law enforcement purposes and comply with governing rules.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston’s Fugitive Operations team, along with CBP's Air and Marine Operations and detectives from the Edgartown Police Department, apprehended the 31-year-old Brazilian national in Edgartown Sept. 28.

James Aubrey Zachary Wasson, 38-year-old resident of Montgomery County, pleaded guilty to the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

On Sept. 27, Rafael Gutierrez-Galvan, 29, and his wife Deyanira Garza, 28, from Alamo, made their initial appearances in federal court.

Juan Manuel Tena, 40, of Pharr, and Julia Isairis Torres, 37, Israel Torres Jr., 34, and Jose Refugio Torres, 27, all of Roma, conspired to transport noncitizens from the Rio Grande Valley to destinations within the United States. As a result of that conspiracy, eight noncitizens were killed and two others seriously injured.

Officers focused enforcement efforts on priority fugitive noncitizens and priority noncitizens previously removed from the United States who reentered the country illegally; specifically, those identified as having a criminal conviction for certain felonies or convictions for other crimes including but not limited to murder for hire, manslaughter, sex crimes against children, assault with a firearm, battery, domestic violence, drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence.

Ariel Isaac Florentino-Galeas, 18, a Honduran national, was discovered in Upper Marlboro on Sept. 26 by deportation officers with ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program.

The newly minted graduates, all military veterans, joined HSI as members the 13th class of the HERO Child Rescue Corps Program, Sept. 28.

Joshua Siragusa-Romero, Christopher Maldonado-Lopez and Christian Maldonado-Lopez, Shaquille Emmanuel Rivera–De Jesus and Christopher Alberto Centeno are still at large.

During a joint press conference Sept. 21 in Naples, authorities announced the launch of the Southwest Florida Inter-Agency Child Exploitation and Person Trafficking (SWFL INTERCEPT) Task Force. This task force is a unique public–private partnership where involved nonprofit organizations provide much-needed and hard to find resources.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law – all individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

Christian Martinez, 29, of Palestine, and his co-defendant, Homero Zamorano Jr., 47, of Elkhart — the tractor-trailer’s driver — were initially charged by indictment on July 20, 2022. Four other co-defendants were identified and charged in a superseding indictment on June 7, 2023: Riley Covarrubias-Ponce aka Rrili aka Rilay, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres aka Cholo aka Chuequito/Chuekito aka Negro, 29; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal aka Cowboy, 38; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega aka El Don aka Don Gon, 54.

A federal judge sentenced Trever Lloyd Sexton, 29, of Del Rio, to 240 months in federal prison followed by eight years of supervision and ordered him to pay a fine of $10,000.

Thomas Taylor Charlton, a 60-year-old resident of Mission, was sentenced Sept. 26 in the Southern District of Texas to 51 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. Charlton pleaded guilty to the charges on May 2.

Abel Alonso Valdez-Vazquez, 59, of Tijuana, Mexico, was also ordered to pay $81,185.35 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.

ERO San Antonio, with assistance from ERO El Paso, removed Francisco Javier Valenzuela Quezada, 57, a citizen of Mexico with a final order of removal on Sept. 14.

ERO Baltimore apprehended an undocumented noncitizen convicted of four counts of first-degree child molestation and five counts of second-degree child molestation against a Rhode Island minor.

Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr., 29, of San Bernadino, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine. Keith Royal Goode-Harper, 32, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to use of a communication facility to facilitate drug trafficking. Each admitted to his role in a drug trafficking organization that operated in the Charleston area.

ERO New York City Fugitive Operations apprehended the individual without incident inside his residence in the West Harlem area of New York City on Sept. 19. He will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.

The indictment alleges that from 2016, the drug trafficking organization called Hasta los Marcian distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base (commonly known as crack), cocaine, marijuana, Tramadol and Clonazepam within 1,000 feet of the Enrique Zorrilla, Villa Evangelina, Vivamery, and Los Murales Public Housing Projects, the Cerro Gandía Ward and the Morovis Cemetery — all for significant financial gain and profit.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law – all individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

The Guatemalan citizen was recently arrested by local police and arraigned on charges of aggravated rape and indecent assault and battery on a child.

Bryan Alexander Torres, 29, of Adelphi, received the sentence at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Sept. 13 for the conspiracy related to his participation in the Weedams Locos Salvatrucha clique of the MS-13 street gang.