News Releases and Statements

ICE arrested Julio Cesar Henao-Cordoba, a 38-year-old citizen of Colombia wanted by law enforcement authorities in Panama for aggravated rape of a child, outside his residence in State College, March 14.

ICE apprehended an illegally present 29-year-old Brazilian alien convicted in his native country for manslaughter while driving a motor vehicle Jan. 25 in Waltham.

ICE removed Orbelin Benitez-Carbajal, a 49-year-old previously deported criminal alien convicted of manslaughter, to Mexico March 17.

Arrests included illegal aliens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, India and Palau.

Sushil Kumar, 35, and three others were indicted in connection with a scheme to smuggle illegal aliens across the northern border for profit. The group was connected to two smuggling episodes in November and December 2023.

The multi-agency operation took place at an illegal cockfight location. Three of the arrested were charged for criminal activity.

Entering the United States without authorization is a violation of federal law, and those who do so may be subject to administrative arrest and, in some cases, criminal prosecution.

ICE apprehended Sostenes Perez-Lopez, 59, an illegal Guatemalan alien charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in Brighton, Feb. 18.

ICE removed Miguel Antonio Verdugo-Garcia, a 49-year-old Mexican fugitive wanted in Mexico for homicide, March 13.

ICE, with assistance from the FBI, arrested Douglas De Souza Gontijo, 34, a native and citizen of Brazil wanted by Brazilian authorities for drug trafficking related crimes, March 13.

As a result of the operation, 11 aliens were identified and arrested as working on the port and amenable to removal proceedings. The aliens came from Mexico, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

ICE, with assistance from local and federal partners, apprehended Ismail Sayik, a citizen of Turkey illegally present in the United States, March 4 during a routine enforcement operation in New Jersey.

ICE arrested illegally present Roshan Tamang, a citizen of Bhutan, March 11, who had a final order of removal.

An investigation by ICE led to Tomas Juarez-Santos, 45, a four-time removed criminal illegal alien from Mexico with two prior convictions for illegal reentry after deportation, being sentenced March 11 to more than a year in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States.

ICE apprehended Ismael Efrain Lopez-Bautista, 43, a citizen of Guatemala, March 11 for illegal reentry after deportation in Vineland, New Jersey.

ICE arrested an illegal Turkish national charged with raping a Massachusetts resident when officers with ICE Boston apprehended Bilal Karayigit, 26, in Burlington Feb. 19.

ICE deported Baltazar Pantoja Calderon, a 43-year-old eight-time removed criminal alien convicted of kidnapping and several other criminal offenses in the U.S., to his home country of Mexico March 13.

Tomas Emilio Hernandez Cruz, 71, from West Park was arrested at his residence after an investigation into fraudulent claims he made on his immigration application.

ICE transported Leticia Caballero Guadarrama, a 53-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, to the Laredo Port of Entry where she was released into Mexico.

In 2024, the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force initiated 1,220 investigations and resolved 728 Cyber Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators seized 122 electronic devices containing over 10 million images and videos, including more than 48,000 identified as child sexual abuse material.

ICE and their law enforcement partners targeted transnational criminal organizations known to operate in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. These organizations include the notorious MS-13 and 18th Street gangs.

ICE, USMS and ATFE arrested Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a 36-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic, in Philadelphia during a joint operation, March 12.

ICE and the DEA arrested Stivenson Omar Perez-Ajtzalan, 19, an illegal Guatemalan alien charged with aggravated rape of a child, in Lawrence Jan. 30.

The Brazilian alien illegally entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Robert Earl Cochran Jr., a 63-year-old resident of Alvin, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to serve 25 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by 10 years of supervised release, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.