News Releases and Statements

Francisco Javier Alanis, 40, from Weslaco, Texas, was an assistant city manager in Progreso, Texas. He was also a school board president for the Progreso Independent School District at the time of his arrest. A federal grand jury returned the three-count superseding indictment Oct. 3.

The complaint alleges that, on Oct. 4, Oswaldo Lopez-Escobar, of Mexico, was driving a semi-truck and applied for admission into the United States from Mexico at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales.

Jose Daniel Ramirez, 20, of San Diego, admitted to selling the fentanyl pills disguised as oxycodone to the victim — referred to as K.W. P. in court documents — and others. In a series of text messages, Ramirez agreed to sell “2 blues” to K.W.P.

The case began on March 15, when Zulema Ruas Madrid, 43, of Mexico, was arrested as part of the multiagency operation. Officials found her in possession of approximately 15.52 pounds of cocaine and charged her with possession of a narcotic drug, possession of narcotic drugs for sale, and transportation of narcotic drugs.

Working in concert with federal partners, HSI agents and CBP officers investigated and interdicted precursor chemicals that Mexican cartels attempted to smuggle into the United States.

Sean Lee Arnold, 51, of Tucson, previously pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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.

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

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.

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.

The strategy announced today leverages HSI’s extensive expertise in investigating cross-border criminal activity and its unique access to customs and financial data to prevent illicit shipments of drug precursor chemicals from reaching U.S. borders. Interrupting the precursor supply chain further prevents the synthesis of drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines. 

The controlled substance was concealed inside six ice cream machines in a moving truck that arrived in Puerto Rico on a ferry from the Dominican Republic. The estimated street value of the seized contraband is $768,000. During a routine inspection of cargo from the marine vessel KYDON, officials discovered the bricks of cocaine.

According to court documents, special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division identified Anthony Perez-Diaz aka Krosty, 37; Anthony Perez-Perez aka Mundo, 43; Jose Ublies-Rivera aka Wichy, 49; and Emanuel Giovanni Hernandez-Miranda aka Goldo, 30, as narcotics distributors in January.

On Sept. 11, 2023, HSI arrested Francisco Furiel Ramos-Dominguez, Coral Rivera-Mercado and Robeletti Ramos-Pagan for conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute after a grand jury returned an indictment against them on Sept. 6, 2023.

On Sept. 7, HSI Houston, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and various other federal, state and local law enforcement authorities announced charges brought against 39 individuals under the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Houston Violent Crime Initiative.

Nina Buendia, Patricia Garcia, Kayloni Guerra, Ernesto Martin, Michael Cory Norris and Mount Vernon Robinson of Sells and Travis Lopez of Covered Wells were among those indicted.

An investigation conducted by HSI Baltimore, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland State Police, with help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, resulted in a 23-year federal prison sentence for Scott Anthony Williams, 45, of Laurel, and a 12-year, six-month sentence for Taeyan Raymond Williams, 26, of Morgantown, West Virginia.

On Oct. 19, 2022, Encinas-Obregon entered the United States from Mexico in a 2011 Audi A4 through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales. Concealed inside the vehicle were 50 packages containing 23 kilograms of methamphetamines.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Frozen River, is the result of ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force efforts, a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. In addition to the arrests, law enforcement personnel seized approximately 6 pounds of fentanyl, 35 pounds of methamphetamine, several pounds of marijuana, 30 firearms, one firearm suppressor, and $140,000 in U.S. currency.

According to admissions in the plea agreement, James Charles Rivera, 32, of New York, operated on the dark web under the moniker “JuicePal.” He arranged and directed the distribution of steroids in nearly every state in the United States, as well as to Canada, Germany, Australia, and countries in the United Kingdom and the European Union from 2018 to 2021.

Pablo Talavera Jr., 35, of Pharr, was a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. At his plea hearing Aug. 28, he admitted he lied to federal agents regarding his knowledge of his family’s involvement in drug trafficking.

On Aug. 24, Jose Antonio Carlos III, 22, of Laredo, was arrested without incident. Carlos is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher dos Santos on Aug. 25.

Emilio Ramon Torres was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 or more kilograms of cocaine and 1 or more kilograms of heroin, as well as possession with intent to distribute 16 kilograms of cocaine.

Fabian Alvarado was sentenced Aug. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 10 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release for human smuggling and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamines.

Jason Curtis Caldwell, 42, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 210 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Caldwell pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 6.