News Releases

I.C.E. Top Stories: Last Week

10/05/2016

ST. PAUL, MN

HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


ICE investigation results in 17 sex trafficking indictments in Minnesota
The charged defendants include 12 from Thailand and five U.S. citizens. Eleven defendants were arrested Tuesday at various locations in Minnesota, California, Illinois, Georgia and Hawaii. One charged defendant was previously arrested in Belgium. Four defendants remain at-large.



10/05/2016

LOS ANGELES, CA

NARCOTICS

2 Colombian nationals extradited on charges of using clandestine air shipments to smuggle multi-ton loads of cocaine
Dicson Penagos-Casanova, 36, and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra, 34, are charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with spearheading the conspiracy to “coordinate aerial shipments of ton-quantities of cocaine” for sale to “cocaine-trafficking syndicates” in Central America. The shipments included more than $70 million in cocaine recovered by international law enforcement.



10/05/2016

BUFFALO, NY



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE deports Mexican fugitive suspected of ambushing humanitarian convoy, killing 2
Juan Macario Bautista-Martinez, 23, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry. Bautista-Martinez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in 2012 with a double homicide committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2010.



10/04/2016

SAN JUAN, <acronym title="Google Page Ranking"><acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym></acronym>



CHILD EXPLOITATION


ICE, DOJ reach out to 1,000 students during US District Court 50th anniversary
The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale, HSI San Juan Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricardo Mayoral, as well as heads of federal, state and local agencies attended the event providing their personnel and equipment for the exhibits that followed the Internet safety presentations. According to the participating agencies, cyber safety education not only aids in prevention, it also frequently generates valuable case leads.




10/03/2016

CLEVELAND, OH



HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS


Bosnian husband, wife repatriated after more than decade-long immigration fraud probe
Ratko Maslenjak, 57, a former Cleveland-area resident and his wife, Divna Maslenjak, 53, arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 1, via commercial aircraft. ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers witnessed the pair’s departure from JFK International Airport and confirmed their arrival with Serbian authorities.

https://www.ice.gov/news/top-stories...week&created=1
-----------------------------------------------------------

I.C.E. News Releases


10/11/2016

CHICAGO, IL

ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE Chicago office deports fugitive wanted in Mexico for murder
Agustin Espinoza-Betancourt, 34, is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for allegedly committing murder in 1999 in Morelos, Mexico. According to the Red Notice, on Feb 6, 1999, Espinoza-Betancourt got into an altercation with his neighbors — a mother and son — and shot the son four times, killing him. The mother attempted to shield her son and was shot twice, but survived.


10/11/2016

ALBUQUERQUE, NM

HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


Federal jury finds NM man guilty of sex trafficking
A federal jury on Friday returned a verdict finding a local man guilty of sex trafficking, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).


10/06/2016

PROVIDENCE, RI

HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING

Rhode Island man pleads guilty to sex trafficking young girl
On April 6, 2015, authorities tracked a cell phone in the possession of the missing teenager to Franklin Township, New Jersey. HSI and FBI special agents, and police officers from Franklin Township located the missing girl and Monteiro in a hotel room in Franklin Township.



10/06/2016

NEW YORK, NY



COUNTER PROLIFERATION INVESTIGATION UNIT


Brooklyn resident, 2 Russian nationals arrested in connection with scheme to illegally export controlled technology to Russia
Alexey Barysheff, 36, along with his cohorts Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Karpenko, 33, and Alexey Krutilin, 27, is charged with acquiring sophisticated military and satellite technology on behalf of Russian end-users.




10/06/2016

LAS CRUCES, NM



NARCOTICS


NM man pleads guilty to methamphetamine trafficking
A Deming, New Mexico, man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to methamphetamine trafficking, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).



10/05/2016

ST. LOUIS, MO



NARCOTICS


RAC St. Louis' Missouri Gateway Task Force receives 2016 OCDETF Director's Award
Members of the HSI-led Missouri Gateway Task Force were recently awarded the prestigious 2016 OCDETF Director’s Award for Group Achievements. The award was presented Sept. 29 at the RAC St. Louis office by OCDETF Assistant U.S. Attorney James C. Delworth, Eastern District of Missouri.



10/05/2016

ST. PAUL, MN



HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


ICE investigation results in 17 sex trafficking indictments in Minnesota
The charged defendants include 12 from Thailand and five U.S. citizens. Eleven defendants were arrested Tuesday at various locations in Minnesota, California, Illinois, Georgia and Hawaii. One charged defendant was previously arrested in Belgium. Four defendants remain at-large.



10/05/2016

LOS ANGELES, CA



NARCOTICS


2 Colombian nationals extradited on charges of using clandestine air shipments to smuggle multi-ton loads of cocaine
Dicson Penagos-Casanova, 36, and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra, 34, are charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with spearheading the conspiracy to “coordinate aerial shipments of ton-quantities of cocaine” for sale to “cocaine-trafficking syndicates” in Central America. The shipments included more than $70 million in cocaine recovered by international law enforcement.




10/05/2016

BUFFALO, NY



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE deports Mexican fugitive suspected of ambushing humanitarian convoy, killing 2
Juan Macario Bautista-Martinez, 23, was transferred by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers to the custody of representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry. Bautista-Martinez is charged in an arrest warrant issued in 2012 with a double homicide committed in Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2010.



10/04/2016

TAMPA, FL



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


Guatemalan man sentenced for illegal re-entry after removal
According to court documents, Guillermo Lucas-Mazariegos, 31, of Guatemala, was previously removed from the United States to Guatemala in April 2008 and September 2010, and was also previously removed from the United States to Mexico in April 2011.



10/04/2016

SAN JUAN, <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym>



CHILD EXPLOITATION


ICE, DOJ reach out to 1,000 students during US District Court 50th anniversary
The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale, HSI San Juan Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricardo Mayoral, as well as heads of federal, state and local agencies attended the event providing their personnel and equipment for the exhibits that followed the Internet safety presentations. According to the participating agencies, cyber safety education not only aids in prevention, it also frequently generates valuable case leads.



10/04/2016

ALBUQUERQUE, NM



NARCOTICS


California man faces federal drug trafficking charge in NM for methamphetamine seizure
Edwin Josue Torres, 24, of Sherman Oaks, California, was ordered detained pending trial. He was arrested Sept. 29, and was charged in a criminal complaint with methamphetamine trafficking after the New Mexico State Police (NMSP) seized about 38.25 lbs. of methamphetamine from him following a routine traffic stop.




10/03/2016

CLEVELAND, OH



HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS


Bosnian husband, wife repatriated after more than decade-long immigration fraud probe
Ratko Maslenjak, 57, a former Cleveland-area resident and his wife, Divna Maslenjak, 53, arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 1, via commercial aircraft. ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers witnessed the pair’s departure from JFK International Airport and confirmed their arrival with Serbian authorities.



10/03/2016

ALBUQUERQUE, NM



NARCOTICS


NM woman pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges tied to meth, heroin seizure
Jeanne J. Barron, 24, was arrested in July 2015 on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute July 10, 2015, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.



10/03/2016

ALBUQUERQUE, NM



NARCOTICS


Oklahoma man pleads guilty to narcotics trafficking charge in NM
The charge to which Ruben Fuentes Jr., 38, of Oklahoma City, pleaded guilty stemmed from a seizure of more than 13 lbs. of methamphetamine during a traffic stop.



09/30/2016

WASHINGTON, DC



FINANCIAL CRIMES


ICE, Chile National Customs Service sign agreement establishing trade transparency unit
This agreement brings the total HSI TTU international partners to 14.




09/30/2016

TAMPA, FL



WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT


3 Florida companies become IMAGE members
Three Florida companies became the latest employers to be certified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) employment compliance program called IMAGE at a ceremony Thursday.



09/29/2016

NEWARK, NJ



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes Peruvian citizen wanted for fraud
Jesus Godofredo Aguilar Guillen, 50, a criminally-convicted alien illegally present in the United States and the subject of an Interpol warrant for fraud, was taken into ICE custody on Aug. 18,. Aguilar Guillen was wanted by Peruvian authorities for fraud and had illegally re-entered the United States after being deported in 2004.



09/29/2016

MCALLEN, TX



NARCOTICS


Mexican man sentenced in South Texas to 6 ½ years in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine
Manuel Ivan Reina-Ruiz, from Sonora, Mexico, has been sentenced to 78 months imprisonment by a U.S. District judge in McAllen.



09/28/2016

GRAND ISLAND, NE



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE detainee passes away at Nebraska hospital
A Guatemalan man in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) passed away of an apparent heart attack Tuesday at St. Francis Hospital in Grand Island, Nebraska.




09/28/2016

ROCKFORD, IL



FINANCIAL CRIMES


Illinois woman sentenced to 55 months in federal prison for mail fraud
Patty Cordoba, 44, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, was sentenced Sept. 28 by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala, Northern District of Illinois, to 55 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.



09/28/2016

LOS ANGELES, CA



CHILD EXPLOITATION


British man who came to US to have sex with pre-teen boys pleads guilty, agrees to 13-year prison sentence
Paul Charles Wilkins, 70, of Littleport in East Cambridgeshire, England, a dual U.S.-United Kingdom citizen, was charged earlier this year in a four-count indictment with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct; attempted sex trafficking of children; transportation of child pornography; and possession of child pornography.



09/28/2016

NEW ORLEANS, LA



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes Rwandan wanted for genocide
Leopold Munyakazi, 67, entered the U.S. in 2004 on a business visa. In November 2006 the government of Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant charging Munyakazi with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and negation to genocide.

Pages