News Releases and Statements

Fifty-three Dominican nationals were arrested including seven females during the multiagency operation that took place at the La Concha Renaissance San Juan Resort hotel construction worksite.

The operation, focused on identifying and apprehending removable aliens who pose a threat to public safety, was carried out across the greater Nashville area in coordination with Department of Homeland Security components, The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Edgar Sanchez-Solis, 23, unlawfully residing in Kansas City, Kansas; Ignacio Diaz-Perez, 35, unlawfully residing in Oakwood, Georgia; Samuel Diaz-Perez, 26, unlawfully residing in Dublin, Ohio; and Salvador Diaz-Diaz, 32, unlawfully residing in Columbus, Ohio, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States and 25 counts of bringing aliens illegally to the United States for profit.

ICE HSI special agents arrested Joshua DeWitte, 50, of Cambridge on May 8 and Christopher Allan Tisoy, 27, a Filipino national residing in Baltimore, Maryland on May 7. Both were charged with one count each of sexual exploitation of minors, attempt, and conspiracy.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 38-year-old criminal alien Joel Armando Mejia-Benitez, a Salvadoran national, May 5 in Silver Spring. Mejia is a validated MS-13 gang member and is wanted in his home country for firearms offenses.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the North Texas Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Strike Force arrested a foreign fugitive wanted by Venezuelan authorities for his direct involvement in the homicide of four individuals. Law enforcement officers from the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and ICE Dallas apprehended Anthony Fabian Marin La Torre, 42, in Grapevine May 2.

ICE makes official notifications to Congress, nongovernmental organization stakeholders and the media upon an official report of a detained illegal alien’s death, and posts a news release with relevant details on the ICE public website within two business days per agency policy.

ICE in Utah removed Sergio Orlando Monroy Rescinos, 37, an illegal alien from Guatemala, to his home country May 7 to face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age.

Officers with ICE Boston and agents with FBI Boston arrested Fernando Antonio Vieira-Martins, 34, in Milford May 1.

On May 7, Enforcement and Removal Operations San Diego arrested Humberto Lopez, 50, a citizen of Mexico.

Mexican nationals Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna, 30, and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva, 36, believed to be involved in the smuggling event were taken into custody at the time of the incident. They have been charged with bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain.

Alan Xavier Cabrera, 27, of Mexico, was arrested April 25, and charged by criminal complaint for possession of child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating this case.

Leslie Kibula Bongajum, 34, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Steven Terrell Lewis, 39, of El Cajon, was convicted by a federal jury May 6 for attempted coercion and enticement of a 14-year-old high school student and attempted sex trafficking by force or coercion of a 22-year-old woman. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, the National City Police Department, the El Cajon Police Department, the San Diego Sheriff’s Office and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office are investigating this case.

The scheme involved suspects applying for store credit cards using stolen identities, then using those credit lines to purchase merchandise with no intention to pay them back. The scheme was carried out in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties.

According to court documents, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, 36, was a member of a group of fraudsters that sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States over the course of several years.

Officers with ICE Boston and agents with DEA New England and ATF Boston arrested Emerson Esteban Arias-Polanco, 27, in Boston March 20.

Such examinations have successfully stopped child abduction, interdicted criminals fleeing prosecution, interdicted illegal contraband such as controlled substances, precursor drugs, and arms, and uncovered myriad other violations involving currency reporting requirements, stolen vehicles, trade, and immigration.

On April 29, ICE joined more than 1,000 service members, law enforcement professionals, government officials, and participants from 26 allied and partner nations gathered in Trinidad and Tobago to officially launch TRADEWINDS 2025 — a multinational, multi-domain exercise sponsored by U.S. Southern Command and led by U.S. Army South.

Officers with ICE Boston took custody of Juan Rene Barcenes-Velasquez, 56, when officers from the Worcester District Court turned him over to ICE March 31.

ICE arrested an illegally present Honduran national after local authorities dropped his charges for abduction of a person with intent to defile and burglary: entering a house to murder, rape, etc. Officers with ICE Washington, D.C. arrested Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez, 26, in Fairfax, Virginia, May 2.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in coordination with the U.S. Secret Service and other federal, state and local partners, carried out a large-scale enforcement and interdiction operation targeting high-traffic ATM locations known for rampant fraudulent electronic benefit transfer card activity May 1 and 2.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection thwarted an attempted smuggling incident with an unaccompanied alien child in Yuma April 29. U.S. border officials apprehended a woman attempting to smuggle a 5-year-old boy — identified as “John Doe” in the legal complaint — after the child’s mother allegedly paid a smuggler to transport him illegally into the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, jointly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners, executed search warrants involving illegal immigration, cockfighting and other criminal activity in Southern Mississippi May 3.

Mailon Almendares-Martinez, a 21-year-old resident of New Orleans, was convicted of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens April 30 for his role in a botched human smuggling attempt that resulted in two of the aliens being shot by suspected rival smugglers.