News Releases and Statements

Operation Noble Guardian is a focused effort by HSI to identify alien adults exploiting the U.S. border by arriving with a child in order to be deemed a family unit in an attempt to avoid detention, and who then after securing entry into the U.S. subsequently return the child back to their native countries where they are frequently used again by other adults to then enter the U.S. again as an alleged "family unit."

In the past three months, the A-HIDTA Parcel Taskforce has seized more than $350,000 in illicit proceeds, large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and thousands of THC vapes that are similar in appearance to nicotine vapes.

Jens Söring departed from Dulles International Airport on a direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany at approximately 10 p.m. EST Monday.

The sentencing of Gerardo Gutierrez-Perez, 44, follows an investigation and arrest for illegal reentry by deportation officers from ICE's ERO.

Federico Espinosa-Flores, 50, from Donna, Texas, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison followed by one year of supervised release for knowingly and intentionally conspiring to unlawfully transport illegal aliens.

John Henry Bevel Jr., 44, from Las Cruces, was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to one of his victims.

Special agents, computer forensic analysts and deportation officers from the HSI Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee, Tampa and Headquarters, in addition to ERO officers from Jacksonville and Tampa, are supporting the investigation into the active shooter at NAS Pensacola.

Miguel Meza-Fuentes was removed from the United States to Honduras via ICE Air.

Olga Marina Franco del Cid, 35, an illegal alien from Guatemala who formerly resided in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, has been charged with illegal re-entry, identification document fraud, and false representation of social security account number.

Albino Vargas-Hernandez, a 48-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, and Rene Camacho, a 47-year-old U.S. citizen residing in Houston, both pleaded guilty Dec. 12 to conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens. A third man who is also illegally present in the U.S., 21-year-old Mexican national Hiram Lamarca-Gonzalez, entered his guilty plea Dec. 4.

With the objective of bolstering relationships with key community partners, HSI San Juan recruited participants from diverse employment areas including media, congressional affairs, non-government agencies, and the financial industry to attend the academy. HSI employees nominated members of the community who they felt would be suitable candidates.

The task force, which launched in April 2019, targets drug trafficking organizations that are making the streets of Kansas City more violent by importing large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs from Mexico and elsewhere.

Jose Ruiz-Alvarado, 52, a citizen of El Salvador, was previously removed by ICE on two separate occasions in March 2002 and January 2008.

HSI Boston Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina and CBP Director of Field Operations for Boston Michael Denning provided an overview of the work that HSI and CBP do to combat counterfeit items and products that violate intellectual property rights.

Daniel Ontiveros, 61, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty Nov. 25 to one count of child sexual exploitation in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Ontiveros has a prior conviction for attempted possession of child pornography in February 2013 in Missouri. As a result of this conviction, he was placed on the state’s sex offender’s registry. He also has a conviction for enticing a child in April 2013.

David Vogelpohl, 22, of Vista, California, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams, following a June 20, 2019, guilty plea in which he pleaded to one count of sexual exploitation of a child. At his plea hearing, Vogelpohl admitted that in 2018 he persuaded, induced, or enticed a juvenile female victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions.