News Releases and Statements

ICE agencies in Newark arrested an additional four illegally present child predators since July 21, making a total of eight arrests in an ongoing effort targeting illegal aliens with histories of child exploitation.

Juan Carlos Padilla Santos, a Dominican national with prior murder and narcotics convictions, was sentenced to 100 months in prison after an investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations New York uncovered he had illegally reentered the United States despite having been previously deported twice and having been the subject of a third removal order.

An ICE Homeland Security Task Force in Orlando arrested Guillermo Perez Alzate, a confessed murderer and criminal alien from Colombia. Perez is a former paramilitary leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a transnational criminal organization that uses drugs to finance its illegal activities.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, in close coordination with U.S. and international law enforcement partners, has successfully dismantled critical infrastructure used by BlackSuit ransomware, a major cybercriminal operation and successor to Royal ransomware, responsible for attacks on essential services around the world. The operation resulted in the seizures of servers, domains and digital assets used to deploy ransomware, extort victims, and launder proceeds.

Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old citizen of China in ICE custody, passed away at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center on Aug. 5.

An investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations New York, in coordination with its law enforcement partners, led a Long Island woman to plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws July 30.

ICE, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and state and local law enforcement, arrested 42 illegal aliens Aug. 5 during an operation in Southeast Houston targeting criminal aliens and other egregious immigration offenders.

ICE arrested six illegal aliens this past week in the Houston area who, as a group, have illegally entered the U.S. an astounding 42 times and been convicted of 48 criminal offenses.

ICE removed Romulus Mihai, an illegally present, 33-year-old Belgian fugitive convicted of sexual exploitation of a child in his native country, and turned him over to Belgian authorities July 31.

On June 11, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging 53 gang members from the municipality of San Juan with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession and distribution of controlled substances, and firearms violations.

ICE arrested Dominican national and illegal alien Bean Gomez-Cepeda July 2, after a U.S. Magistrate Judge issued a warrant against him for assaulting federal agents. He was charged with resisting, opposing or impeding federal agents with a dangerous weapon and hitting a government vehicle with his own vehicle.

Jesus Lopez Jr., 35, participated and recorded multiple sexually explicit acts with the child. He faces between five and 15 years in prison and at least five years of supervised release. He must also register as a sex offender.

Mario Torrez-Lopez, 34, of Mexico, is a self-admitted member of the Sureños gang and has been deported from the United States four times — in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Despite these removals, Torrez-Lopez illegally returned each time and continued to engage in criminal behavior across multiple states.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles participated in the arrest of a Long Beach man Aug. 1 on a federal criminal complaint alleging he sent a dozen payments to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

ICE announced July 31 that it has issued over 1,000 tentative job offers since July 4, marking a significant milestone in its ongoing recruitment efforts.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement partners conducted an operation July 30, where former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and five other defendants — including a suspected high-level member of an Israeli transnational organized crime group — were arrested on a federal indictment alleging they operated an illegal gambling business in which high-stakes poker games were played at an Encino mansion Arenas owned.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia and Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, IRS Philadelphia and ATF Philadelphia arrested Silvestre Herrera-Vasquez, a 48-year-old citizen of Mexico, in Malvern July 28.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia removed Olvin Mauricio Martinez Coto, a citizen of Honduras with a final order of removal, to Honduras July 23. Martinez Coto is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Honduras for aggravated femicide, attempted homicide, and forcible entry to a home.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia, Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia and IRS Philadelphia arrested Oscar Adalberto Penate, a 56-year-old citizen of El Salvador, in Pottstown July 27.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Maine arrested an illegally present Jamaican offender after he unlawfully attempted to purchase a firearm.

Sydney Lori Reid, 44, of the District of Columbia, was charged July 23 in U.S. District Court with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Newark, alongside partners from Enforcement and Removal Operations, Newark arrested four illegally present child predators over the course of as many days in connection with an ongoing effort targeting illegal aliens with histories of child exploitation, titled “Operation Apex Predator.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 214 illegal aliens for immigration offenses in the Houston area in the past six months who have been charged or convicted of a sex offense involving a minor.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Buffalo arrested Wahota Allassane Ouattara upon his release from the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in Comstock July 23. The 38-year-old illegal alien from the Côte d'Ivoire has an extensive criminal history that includes nine convictions in the United States, including arson and assault.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Buffalo arrested Salvadoran national Jacobo Argueta Fuentes pursuant to a warrant of deportation upon his release from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision July 23 in Ossining.