News Releases and Statements

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.

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.

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.

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.

Daylan Lamont Camp, 28, of Pasadena, pleaded guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, to one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of children.

The memorandum of cooperation was signed by HSI Assistant Director for International Operations David Magdycz and Comandante General of the National Police of Peru Jorge Angulo on Sept. 15.

Arrests included two confirmed human traffickers; a nurse at a major medical network in Dallas; four individuals with access to the secure area of DFW airport; four noncitizens with final orders of removal; one pending hire with a major city police department; and one prominent DFW city employee. 

An HSI Pensacola investigation led to the sentencing of Jason R. Moore, 43, of Milton, to 60 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

Jacqueline Rascon-Chacon, Bryan Gardea and Ricardo Landeros face charges of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. All three defendants appeared in federal court and will remain on conditions of release pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

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. 

ERO Long Island Fugitive Operations apprehended the 23-year-old Honduran national without incident outside his residence in Copiague. He will remain in custody pending removal to Honduras.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33, of Culiacan, Mexico, was arraigned in federal court in Chicago Sept. 18 after his extradition from Mexico to the United States on Sept. 15. In January, Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico pursuant to a request from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and partner agencies for his provisional arrest with a view toward extradition.

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.

As a result of the investigation, Suez Rajan Limited pleaded guilty April 19, 2023, to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The company was thereafter sentenced to three years of corporate probation and fined almost $2.5 million.

Dereck Wayne Winstead, a 34-year-old resident of Bridge City, was found guilty of possession of child pornography following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

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.

According to law enforcement officials, Joshuah Cruz Eberhart, 24, of Clay Springs, sent sexually explicit material involving a minor over the internet.

Eric Nana Kofi Ampong Coker, 41, of Columbia received a sentence of 30 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Sep. 6.