News Releases and Statements

Maria Mendoza-Mendoza aka La Guera made her initial court appearance June 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

In just two days, HSI San Juan interdicted 434 kilograms of cocaine across Puerto Rico in conjunction with CBP’s AMO and the DEA.

HSI El Paso’s IMAGE program’s new partners are the Region 19 Education Service Center and Workforce Solutions Borderplex. The two businesses renewing their memberships are Mission Chevrolet and El Paso Communication Systems, Inc.

ERO Boston arrested an unlawfully present Irish citizen June 13 in Billerica. He is identified as a member of a transnational criminal organization and is wanted for passport fraud, theft and multiple motor vehicle offenses by authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

According to the indictment and other court records, two citizens of Guatemala — Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar aka Tio Roni, 45, of Guatemala City, Guatemala, and his sister, Rosa Adriana Lopez-Escobar aka Tia Rosa, 38, of Phoenix — allegedly led the Lopez crime family, a transnational criminal organization principally involved in human smuggling with operations in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.

HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced June 22 that the United States filed and settled a civil forfeiture action against $12 million derived from the sale of stolen Southeast Asian antiquities by indicted antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford. 

On June 23, U.S. District Judge Greg Kays sentenced Michael Brandon Pedrino to 160 months of incarceration to be followed by five years of supervised release as part of a plea agreement related to drug distribution and firearm possession.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

Nathan Kharim Melendez, 25, of Mexico, is wanted in Mexico for the criminal charge of causing multiple injuries with a vehicle and abandonment of persons (fleeing from the scene).

ERO Boston removed Miguel Angel Genao, 31, a fugitive wanted for homicide in the Dominican Republic, on June 20. Genao, an unlawfully present noncitizen, was arrested near Springfield in April and removed to his native country by ERO Boston officers.

The 53-year-old citizen of El Salvador, who unlawfully entered the United States across the southern border in December 1988, was arrested by local police April 4 and released pending his criminal court hearing.

ICE ERO Los Angeles removed Dany Barrientos, a 40-year-old Guatemalan national wanted for rape and violent abuse in Guatemala, June 14. Barrientos was removed to Guatemala, where he was turned over to the proper authorities to face justice.

This return of these ancient coins was made possible by the investigative efforts of HSI Chicago, HSI’s Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities (CPAA) program, and law enforcement partners at CBP.

Hosted by the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria, the InterCOP conference brought together 50 delegates from 25 nations, including the United States, to highlight best practices in youth offender prevention to combat the rise in cybercrime.

A joint investigation involving HSI Baltimore landed a Salvadoran national 26 years in federal prison for his role in a racketeering conspiracy that included murder, drug distribution and firearms charges. Jose Lopez-Rivera, 27, of Elmont, New York, received the lengthy prison sentence May 31 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore.

Since 2017, these federal partners have focused on darknet drug vendors and cryptocurrency-enabled crimes. Ever-evolving technology has allowed drug traffickers and other criminal actors to expand into the digital world and use the darknet to engage in their illegal activity.

The operation took place June 5 through June 9 and resulted in hundreds of arrests, as well as gun and drug seizures. Officials made more than 580 arrests, over 420 of which were for felonies. They also seized nearly 520,000 fentanyl pills and more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine, as well as over 40 weapons from prohibited possessors.

Special agents with HSI Douglas and detectives with Sierra Vista Police Department under the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested three people after separate investigations in Sierra Vista.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.

Wayne Joseph Cavins, 64, of Deltona, Florida, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. He had pleaded guilty on Nov. 15, 2022.

Iven Henrique Pimentel Travassos, 39, a citizen of Portugal, entered the United States in 2008 as a noncitizen and violated terms of admission.

ERO Los Angeles officers arrested Luis Alejandro Bazan, 23, following a targeted enforcement operation in Hawthorne, California on April 18. ERO Los Angeles served Bazan with a Notice of Intent/Decision to Reinstate Prior Order of Removal.

The man is an unlawfully present Mexican national who was convicted in April 2019 by the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and sentenced to six years in the Illinois DOC. He was later paroled in April to complete his sentence on electronic monitoring.

The 22-year-old Mexican native, who entered the U.S. legally on Sept. 2, 2019, was arrested after the U.S. Department of State notified ERO Chicago about an active arrest warrant in Mexico.

The United States removes foreign nationals – according to U.S. law – who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all noncitizens regardless of nationality.