I.C.E. Top Stories: Last Week 2/12/18
Top Stories: Last Week
02/08/2018
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
Twice-deported Guatemalan involved in fatal car crash that killed 2 men in Indianapolis also faces federal immigration charges
According to the criminal complaint, Manuel Orrego-Zavala, aka Manuel Orrego-Savala, 37, was arrested Feb. 4, 2018, by law enforcement in Indianapolis for being involved in a fatal accident on Interstate Highway 70.
02/07/2018
SAN JUAN, P.R.
CHILD EXPLOITATION
CBP officer indicted, arrested for child pornography
HSI special agents arrested Alfredo Maysonet-Galarza, 57, of Toa Alta, after a joint ICE HSI and DHS OIG investigation revealed that during 2015, Maysonet-Galarza used a well-known peer-to-peer file sharing program to advertise for sharing certain videos and images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
02/07/2018
TULSA, OK
NARCOTICS
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ICE and Oklahoma-based law enforcement arrest 10 after executing 9 search warrants in Oklahoma looking for evidence of heroin smuggling and distribution
The subjects targeted are estimated to be supplying as much as two-thirds of the heroin in the Tulsa area.
02/06/2018
WASHINGTON, DC
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS
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ICE, FBI fight to protect girls and women from mutilation and abuse
Feb. 6 marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a day in which the global community recognizes that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, or cutting.
02/05/2018
DETROIT, MI
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
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Reward for information leading to capture of fugitive human trafficking suspect increased to $16,000
Darrick Bell, 49, aka Tone or Ghost, a U.S. citizen, is the subject of a yearlong manhunt, following the takedown of a large-scale, Detroit-based human trafficking and narcotics operation in January 2017.
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I.C.E. News Releases
02/12/2018
NEW YORK, NY
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
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ICE HSI Special Agents featured in National Geographic documentary series
This week’s episode: “Crossroads” highlights HSI’s efforts to gather information about third country nationals and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and their activities before they reach the United States.
02/09/2018
WASHINGTON, DC
CYBER CRIMES
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ICE dismantles massive cyberfraud enterprise that cost victims $530 million
Following the return of a nine-count superseding indictment by a Las Vegas, Nevada, grand jury alleging racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, federal, state, local, and international law enforcement authorities arrested 13 defendants from the United States and six countries: Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Kosovo and Serbia.
02/09/2018
BOSTON, MA
FINANCIAL CRIMES
ICE Boston announces sentencing of Brazilian National convicted in $20 million dollar international money laundering pyramid scheme
HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge, Michael Shea, along with United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, whose office prosecuted the case, announced that Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 33 months in prison and one year of supervised release. In October 2017, Rocha pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering.
02/08/2018
LAREDO, TX
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
Human smuggler from Tennessee sentenced in South Texas to 4 years in federal prison for using aftermarket wooden boxes to transport illegal aliens
Zachary Steven Blizzard, 27, from Kingport, Tennessee, was sentenced Feb. 8 by U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle to 48 months in federal prison and to three years of supervised release. Blizzard pleaded guilty to the human smuggling charges Sept. 5, 2017.
02/08/2018
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
Twice-deported Guatemalan involved in fatal car crash that killed 2 men in Indianapolis also faces federal immigration charges
According to the criminal complaint, Manuel Orrego-Zavala, aka Manuel Orrego-Savala, 37, was arrested Feb. 4, 2018, by law enforcement in Indianapolis for being involved in a fatal accident on Interstate Highway 70.
02/07/2018
SAN JUAN, <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym>
CHILD EXPLOITATION
CBP officer indicted, arrested for child pornography
HSI special agents arrested Alfredo Maysonet-Galarza, 57, of Toa Alta, after a joint ICE HSI and DHS OIG investigation revealed that during 2015, Maysonet-Galarza used a well-known peer-to-peer file sharing program to advertise for sharing certain videos and images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
02/07/2018
SAN DIEGO, CA
FINANCIAL CRIMES
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Rabobank National Association pleads guilty, agrees to pay $369 million
Rabobank National Association (Rabobank), a California subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A., pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and agreed to pay $368,701,259 – the largest financial penalty in the Southern District of California – as part of a plea agreement to settle allegations that it hid deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program.
02/07/2018
TULSA, OK
NARCOTICS
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ICE and Oklahoma-based law enforcement arrest 10 after executing 9 search warrants in Oklahoma looking for evidence of heroin smuggling and distribution
The subjects targeted are estimated to be supplying as much as two-thirds of the heroin in the Tulsa area.
02/07/2018
GREAT FALLS, MT
NARCOTICS
Montana man sentenced to 12 ½ years in federal prison for local methamphetamine distribution ring
Michael Lee Lira, 53, of Billings, Montana, was sentenced Feb. 7 to 150 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the hearing.
02/06/2018
LAS CRUCES, NM
CHILD EXPLOITATION
Child sex offender sentenced in NM to 25 years for child exploitation, receiving child pornography
Michael Ray Sepulveda, 39, from Silver City, New Mexico, must also register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
02/06/2018
HARRISONBURG, VA
CHILD EXPLOITATION
Va man pleads guilty to traveling to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct
James Daniel Arbaugh, 40, faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
02/06/2018
WASHINGTON, DC
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS
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ICE, FBI fight to protect girls and women from mutilation and abuse
Feb. 6 marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a day in which the global community recognizes that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, or cutting.
02/06/2018
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
NATIONAL SECURITY
Saudi citizen charged in Oklahoma with concealing attendance at al Qaeda training camp
Based on a criminal complaint signed in the Western District of Oklahoma and unsealed Tuesday, Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 34, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and a current resident of Weatherford, Oklahoma, was taken into custody by the FBI without incident Feb. 5.
02/05/2018
DETROIT, MI
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
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Reward for information leading to capture of fugitive human trafficking suspect increased to $16,000
Darrick Bell, 49, aka Tone or Ghost, a U.S. citizen, is the subject of a yearlong manhunt, following the takedown of a large-scale, Detroit-based human trafficking and narcotics operation in January 2017.
02/02/2018
ALEXANDRIA, VA
FINANCIAL CRIMES
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Former attorney sentenced to 7 years in prison for money laundering
According to court documents, from at least March 2013 to February 2017, Raymond Juiwen Ho, 48, of Vienna, engaged in a large-scale money laundering scheme that resulted in millions of dollars being moved through bank accounts that Ho or his co-conspirators controlled.
02/01/2018
PHOENIX, AZ
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
ICE repatriates Mexican national wanted for homicide and violent robbery
Gilberto Ramos-Prado, 46, was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO officers at the Nogales DeConcini Port of Entry. Gilberto Ramos-Prado most recently came into ICE custody Jan. 12, after serving four months in federal prison for an illegal re-entry conviction.
02/01/2018
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
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'Operation Team Player' nets over $15 million in fake sports merchandise
Special agents from HSI teamed with industry, CBP, FBI, Minneapolis police officers and other partner agencies to identify flea markets, retail outlets and street vendors selling counterfeit goods during the week leading up to Super Bowl LII. They seized fake jerseys, hats, cell-phone accessories and thousands of other bogus items prepared to be sold to unsuspecting consumers.
02/01/2018
SEATTLE, WA
COUNTER PROLIFERATION INVESTIGATION UNIT
2 men indicted for scheme to export firearms to Kurds in Iraq
Paul Stuart Brunt, 51, of Bellevue, Washington, and Rawnd Khaleel Aldalawi, 29, of Seattle, were arrested on a criminal complaint January 24, 2018.
01/31/2018
ATLANTA, GA
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
ICE detainee passes away
ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive review of this incident, as it does in all such cases. Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of the rate of the U.S. detained population as a whole.
01/31/2018
PHILADELPHIA, PA
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS
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ICE removes former soldier of the Republika Serbian Krajina wanted for aggravated murder
Slobodan Mutic, 54, is wanted by Croatian authorities for aggravated murder. He was ordered removed on Oct. 23, 2017, by a federal immigration judge based on his criminal conviction. On Jan. 6, 2016, Slobodan was sentenced to two years in prison, for knowingly and willingly possessing a Form I-94, arrival/departure record, knowing it to have been procured by means of any false claim or statement, or to have been otherwise procured by fraud and unlawfully obtained.
01/31/2018
LAREDO, TX
NARCOTICS
California woman sentenced in South Texas to 9 years in federal prison for importing meth, heroin
Aurelia Rufino-Pilar, 42, from Bakersfield, California, was sentenced Jan. 31 by U.S. District Court Judge Diana Saldana to 108 months in federal prison. She is a U.S. permanent resident but is expected to face deportation proceedings following her release from prison.
01/30/2018
WASHINGTON, DC
NARCOTICS
Maryland man sentenced to 102 months for drug trafficking
Bradley Cobbler, 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced Jan. 29 by the Honorable Amit P. Mehta. Following his prison term, Cobbler will be placed on five years of supervised release.
01/30/2018
NEW YORK, NY
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
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ICE returns prolific Colombian international money launderer
Jhon Hincapie-Ramirez, 57, was escorted by ERO officers via an ICE Air Operations charter flight and turned over to Colombian law enforcement authorities. In February 2015, Hincapie-Ramirez was charged in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to launder money.
01/30/2018
NEW YORK, NY
OPERATIONAL
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ICE HSI Special Agent Celestino Martinez to attend State of the Union Address
ICE HSI Supervisory Special Agent Celestino Martinez will attend the State of Union Address as a guest of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in recognition of Martinez's extraordinary work combatting transnational criminal gangs in New York.
01/30/2018
PITTSBURGH, PA
FINANCIAL CRIMES
3 sentenced in counterfeit credit card scheme
Raul Perez, 38, sentenced to 24 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release and restitution in the amount of $14,992.96; Alexis Delgado, 44, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release, restitution in the amount of $14,992.96, and a $5,000 fine; and, Leyanis Menendez, 38, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with credit for time served, three years supervised release, restitution in the amount of $14,992.96, and a $5,000 fine.
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