News Releases and Statements

A South Texas woman was taken into custody June 11 for threatening a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement agent in the performance of his duties. The investigation is being conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio with assistance from Goliad County Sheriff’s Office.

A federal grand jury indicted Paulo Vinicius Cardozo-Pereira June 9 charging him with one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. This indictment follows Cardozo-Pereira’s arrest by officers with ICE Boston May 10.

The operation focused on the businesses that own and race thoroughbred and quarter horses out of the stables at the racetrack and the employees who work for them and take care of the horses. All of the aliens taken into custody during the operation were processed for administrative immigration violations and transported to the Lake Charles Border Patrol Station in Lake Charles, Louisiana. An investigation into potential criminal conduct related to the hiring of the illegal aliens remains ongoing and an assessment of whether any civil penalties are appropriate is being conducted.

The ICE-led multiagency investigation uncovered approximately 70 illegal aliens using stolen Social Security numbers and identities to unlawfully obtain wages, health benefits and employment authorization, leaving more than 100 real victims to face devastating financial, emotional and legal consequences.

Raul Velasco-Leon, 39, plead guilty to transporting child sexual abuse material on June 17.

A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed June 13 in San Diego alleging that 13 Guatemalan nationals are part of a Guatemala-based cocaine trafficking organization operating out of La Mesilla and Democracia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which is on the Guatemala-Mexico border.

Anastacio Santiago Chaparro, also known as Arnoldo Urquidez, 41, of Mexico, was recently sentenced to 110 months' imprisonment for trafficking cocaine at the U.S. District Court of New Jersey in Camden. In February, Santiago Chaparro pleaded guilty to an indictment of those charges and illegal reentry by a convicted felon.

Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston working with agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations New England, FBI Boston, and DEA New England apprehended Emilio Neftaly Pineda June 12 in Peabody.

The Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, conducted a joint operation targeting an illegal animal fighting exhibition in Blount County, Alabama June 14.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts indicted Edwin Antonio Sanchez-Lara, 34, on one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien.

Anthony James Deason, 29, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison followed by eight years of supervised release for one count of attempted receipt of certain material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.

ICE arrested Mexican national and convicted felon Juan Cruz-Gallegos pursuant to a warrant of arrest June 11, in Hudson, New York.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested four aggressive protestors, June 12, who were caught on video damaging federal property and threatening to assault federal agents and officers following the execution of a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods.

Agents administratively arrested four illegal alien employees from Guatemala who were in the United States without authorization.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a joint operation by the field offices of Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations Tulsa, arrested Behkam Bahadorani, a 65-year-old citizen of Iran, June 11, adjacent to an apartment complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A Massachusetts man was sentenced June 2 in federal court in Boston after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into his role leading a large-scale drug trafficking organization found he distributed fentanyl sourced from Latin America.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed Gerardo Nava-Benitez, a 30-year-old Mexican alien and Noroeste cartel member, June 10.

Jesus Molina-Veya, a 45-year-old citizen of Mexico in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was pronounced deceased by medical professionals at the Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, at 6:42 p.m. on June 7

As a result of the operation, ten (10) Chinese-national females were detained by HSI for further identification and removal processing. Interviews are currently being conducted to determine removability.

John Mangan, 78, of Lanoka Harbor, pleaded guilty June 10 to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Trenton.

The worksite enforcement operation, in which more than 70 illegal aliens were detained, is the largest to take place in Nebraska since the start of the current presidential administration that has prioritized immigration enforcement efforts and strengthened focus on border security.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Detroit arrested two criminal aliens in Detroit June 10. Ahmad Fareez Thabateh, 49, a Palestinian, and Kassim Saleh Wasil, 70, a Yemeni, who will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 12 illegal aliens on June 9 during a targeted worksite enforcement operation at two business locations, one in Harlingen and one in San Benito, Texas.

The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Ergashev near San Luis, Arizona, on Feb. 14, 2023, for entering the United States without inspection or parole by an immigration official.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led a Department of Homeland Security effort of returning 122 illegal aliens to the Peoples Republic of China June 3. The flight manifest included 96 males and 26 females with final orders for removal coming from ICE detention facilities across the country. Ages ranged from 19 to 68.