Tag Archives: drug smuggling

Texas Resident Sentenced for Smuggling Cocaine

February 20, 2013blogarrest, CBP, cocaine, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, HSI, ICEAlex Meyerovich

A local woman was sentenced Monday, February 11, 2013, to five years in federal prison for importing more than five kilograms of cocaine.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Laurie Molina, 53, appeared before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses who sentenced her to serve 60 months in federal prison, and a five-year term of supervised release. Molina pleaded guilty to the charges June 18, 2012.

According to court documents, on May 10, 2012, Molina was entering the United States from Mexico through the Amistad Port of Entry in Del Rio when CBP directed her to a secondary inspection of her vehicle. During that inspection, CBP discovered more than five kilograms of cocaine hidden in the car battery. She was arrested and taken into custody following the inspection.

She remains in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case was prosecuted by the Western District of Texas.

Guatemalan National Extradited to Florida to Face Drug Smuggling Charges

February 15, 2013blogarrest, Coast Guard, cocaine, criminal alien, DEA, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, extradition, FBI, Guatemala, HSI, ICE, indictment, Panama Express Strike ForceAlex Meyerovich

A Guatemalan drug smuggler was extradited to Tampa Friday, February 8, 2013, following an investigation by the Panama Express Strike Force, a task force that targets maritime smuggling. The strike force consists of several federal agencies, including: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Drug Enforcement Administration; the FBI; the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Joint Interagency Task Force – South; and, the United States Marshals Service. The Guatemala government and Guatemalan law enforcement agencies also assisted with the investigation.

Alma Lucrecia Hernandez-Preciado, aka “La Tia,” 40, of Tecun Uman,Guatemala, was indicted in the Middle District of Florida Sept. 22, 2011, for violating the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.

According to the indictment, Hernandez-Preciado helped organize the maritime smuggling of cocaine shipments into the United States. She was allegedly involved in a May 2011 drug smuggling venture where the crew of a go-fast boat was interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of Guatemala, and law enforcement authorities seized 347 kilograms of cocaine. Hernandez-Preciado is charged with participating in a conspiracy with others to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. She is also charged with helping others distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine.

Hernandez-Preciado was arrested in Guatemala Oct. 10, 2011. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

New York Man Charged with Narcotics Trafficking

February 6, 2013blogarrest, CBP, cocaine, DEA, drug smuggling, drug trade, HSI, ICE, narcotics, narcotics traffickingAlex Meyerovich

A New York man who attempted to smuggle nearly two pounds of cocaine out of the United States concealed inside his body faces more than six years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday, January 17, 2013, to federal drug charges.

Emmanuel Amankwa, 55, of New York City, was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport Oct. 23, 2012, just prior to boarding a flight for Japan. An investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) revealed that Amankwa was carrying 995 grams of cocaine in 100 latex-wrapped pellets inside his body. Amankwa pleaded guilty Thursday, January 17, 2013, to possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Amankwa was initially charged in a criminal complaint filed the day of his arrest. A federal grand jury subsequently returned a one-count indictment against him Nov. 8, 2012.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Amankwa faces a sentence of 60 to 80 months in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release. He must also pay $16,178 in restitution for the medical costs associated with collecting the cocaine pellets he had ingested. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White is scheduled to sentence Amankwa April 11.

Nicaraguan National Sentenced for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Conspiracy

February 5, 2013blogarrest, cocaine, DEA, drug smuggling, drug trafficking, HSI, ICE, illegal firearms, narcotics smuggling, Nicaragua, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, weapons traffickingAlex Meyerovich

A Nicaraguan man was sentenced Thursday, January 31, 2013, to 19 years and seven months in prison on drug trafficking conspiracy charges and 15 years in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to provide weapons to a designated terrorist organization. The sentences resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration and an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

During the conspiracy, Franklin William McField-Bent, aka “Buda,” 55, had numerous meetings and phone calls with undercover Colombian law enforcement officers who claimed to be members of a foreign terrorist organization. McField-Bent tried to help them obtain weapons, which he believed would be used in attacks on the Colombian government. In March 2010, McField-Bent arranged the sale of six grenade launchers, 20 grenades, an Uzi submachine gun and 100 rounds of ammunition to the undercover officers. He also admitted to participating in three shipments of cocaine originating in Central America, all while knowing they were destined for the United States. Each shipment consisted of hundreds of kilograms of the drug.

“The arrest, conviction and subsequent sentencing of McField-Bent is an important accomplishment for theU.S.government and its international partners due to the magnitude of his criminal violations and the threat to the homeland,” said Alysa D. Erichs, special agent in charge of HSI Miami. “We will continue to work with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle drug and weapons trafficking organizations.”

Organized crime drug enforcement task forces identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, as well as those organizations responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

California Man Convicted for Smuggling Heroin in Tortilla Press

January 29, 2013blogarrest, CBP, charges, conviction, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, heroin, HSI, ICE, Mexico, narcoticsAlex Meyerovich

A Bay Area man faces at least 10 years in prison after being found guilty Tuesday, January 22, 2013, by a federal jury on charges stemming from his involvement in a scheme to import heroin into the United States from Mexico.

Mike Gama, 23, of Mountain View, was convicted of both possession with intent to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and importation of a kilogram or more of heroin. The charges are the result of an 18-month probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The jury found that Gama had knowingly participated in a scheme to import heroin into the U.S. when he accepted delivery of a package containing more than a kilogram of heroin concealed inside a wooden tortilla press. The guilty verdict followed a weeklong jury trial.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that on June 20, 2011, Gama received a package shipped from Michoacan, Mexico, via DHL Express. Inside the package, which was addressed to Gama, was a wooden tortilla press containing more than one kilogram of a black tar-like substance. Subsequent lab tests confirmed the substance was Mexican black tar heroin. After Gama signed for the package, HSI special agents executed a search warrant to recover the parcel containing the heroin.

The package was initially intercepted by CBP officers inspecting arriving international shipments at DHL’s hub in Cincinnati, Ohio. CBP alerted HSI special agents inSan Jose, who then made preparations to seize the parcel when it arrived in California.

Following the guilty verdict, Gama, who had been free on bond, was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. His sentencing is scheduled for April 15 before U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Davila in San Jose. The maximum statutory penalty for each of the two counts is life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million, with a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary G. Fry and Amie D. Rooney, with further support provided by Tracey Andersen and Laurie Worthen.

U.S. Citizen Residing in Mexico Convicted for Smuggling Methamphetamine

January 23, 2013blogarrest, conviction, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, HSI, ICE, methamphetamine, Mexico, sentencingAlex Meyerovich

A federal jury on Friday, January 18, 2013, convicted a woman, a U.S. citizen who resided in Reynosa,Mexico, on one count of possessing with intent to distribute more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of methamphetamine, announced U.S Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

This conviction resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jennifer Ellen Marie Rodriguez, 31, was convicted by a jury following a three day trial. During the trial, the government presented testimony that Rodriguez was pulled over June 23, 2012, by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper near Encino. During that traffic stop, Rodriguez claimed to be traveling to San Antonio to attend her grandfather’s funeral. Rodriguez did not know the name or location of the funeral home and did not have appropriate attire expected for such an event.

Rodriguez provided consent to search her vehicle and was arrested after the methamphetamine was discovered hidden in a void behind the vehicle’s dashboard. The government also provided evidence that Rodriguez’s grandfather was a lifelong resident of Michigan and had passed away in 2011.

Rodriguez admitted at trial that she made up the story about the funeral. She testified she did not know the drugs were hidden in her vehicle, but was driving to San Antonio to exchange the vehicle for her kidnapped cousin. Rodriguez claimed that on the previous day, her cousin was kidnapped in Mexico and kidnappers demanded she deliver the vehicle to San Antonio in exchange for her cousin.

The government countered with evidence demonstrating that Rodriguez never told this story to law enforcement at the time of her arrest. In fact, the government proved that Rodriguez had only made the claim just a few days before trial began.

Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced April 24, at which time she faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life imprisonment, as well as a possible $10 million fine. Rodriguez will remain in custody pending that hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad W. Cowan, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

HSI Target Operation Seizes 2,600 Pounds of Cocaine

January 8, 2013blogarrest, Caribbean Corridor Strike Force, CBP, CCSF, Coast Guard, cocaine, DEA, detention, dominican republic, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, FBI, HSI, ICE, narcotics smuggling, Puerto Rico Police DepartmentAlex Meyerovich

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with other members of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), arrested two Dominican Republic nationals for drug trafficking and seized 2,600 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $29 million Wednesday, January 2, 2013, off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico.

“In less than one week HSI and its partners in the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force have seized more than 2,800 pounds of cocaine,” said Angel Melendez, acting special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “These seizures and related arrests are clear proof that HSI, along with our state and federal partners, is vigilant and will not tolerate the importation of illegal drugs into the United States through Puerto Rico.”

Earlier the week ending in Friday, January 4, 2013, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a private vessel 43 nautical miles off of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, occupied by two Dominican Republic nationals and carrying 40 bales with approximately 2,600 pounds of cocaine. According to the criminal complaint, Jose De Leon and Wilson Concepción, both 40, knowingly and intentionally conspired to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The District of Puerto Rico was the first point where the defendants entered the United States after the commission of the offense.

De Leon and Concepción were transferred to the Guaynabo Metropolitan Detention Center in Puerto Rico awaiting the outcome of their case.

CCSF is an initiative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office created to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations operating in the Caribbean. CCSF is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force that investigates South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for the movement of multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics using the Caribbean as a transshipment point for further distribution to the United States. The initiative is composed of HSI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Puerto Rico Police Department’s United Forces for Rapid Action.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected weapons and narcotics smuggling and related information by calling at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Scheme that Resulted in Two Murders

December 11, 2012blogarrest, criminal activity, DEA, Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gange Section, drug smuggling, drug trafficking, gang, gang activity, guilty plea, homicide, ICE, international gang activity, money laundering, MPD, MS-13, murder, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, racketeeringAlex Meyerovich

Dennis L. Gil-Bernardez, an MS-13 member who also is known as Pando, pled guilty Friday, December 7, 2012, to taking part in a federal racketeering conspiracy that was responsible for numerous crimes, including two murders, in the Washington, D.C., region. The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Gil-Bernardez, 36, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer sentenced him to 76 years in prison. The sentence will run concurrently with an 80-year prison term that Gil-Bernardez already is serving in another gang-related case in Virginia.

The defendant was among a group of MS-13 members indicted in November 2011. As part of his plea, he admitted that he was in MS-13’s Normandie clique, and that, after consulting with an incarcerated member of MS-13 in El Salvador, he ordered the murder of Louis Membreno-Zelaya, which was committed by other MS-13 members. Membreno-Zelaya, 27, was found, stabbed to death, on Nov. 6, 2008, in Northwest Washington.

In his plea, Gil-Bernardez admitted that MS-13 is a transnational criminal street gang with a presence in at least 20 states and the District of Columbia, as well as many Central American countries, including El Salvador and Honduras, which is Gil-Bernardez’s country of origin. According to court documents, members of MS-13 use violence and intimidation to protect the gang and enhance its reputation. The gang is involved in murder, attempted murder, robbery, extortion and obstructing justice through the intimidation and threatening of witnesses.

In addition to ordering the murder of Membreno-Zelaya, Gil-Bernardez also admitted today to shooting a person whom he believed to be a rival gang member in April 2008. The victim was shot five times and hospitalized for a week after undergoing life-saving surgery.

Finally, Gil-Bernardez admitted to murdering Luis Chavez-Ponce, 22, July 29, 2008, in Riverdale Park, Md., believing Chavez-Ponce to be a rival gang member. Gil-Bernardez stopped one of the other MS-13 members from chasing after the victim, who was on a bicycle. Gil-Bernardez chased Chavez-Ponce around the corner of a building and fired several shots, killing him.

The gun which Gil-Bernardez used in the murder of Chavez-Ponce was determined to be the same weapon used in the shooting of three people in Reston, Va., in October 2008, to which Gil-Bernardez also admitted. His 80-year sentence in Virginia is a result of those crimes, which were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. This latest plea is one of several by MS-13 members in recent months in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The prosecution grew out of the efforts of the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a multi-agency team that conducts comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The principal mission of the nationwide program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.

This case was investigated by ICE, MPD, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department and Fairfax County Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Laura Gwinn, of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nihar R. Mohanty and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill O’Malley.

Canadian Helicopter Pilot Sentenced for Drug Smuggling Operation

November 15, 2012blogarrest, British Columbia, Canada, CBP, criminal alien, DEA, drug smuggling, HSI, ICE, illegal alien, Integrated Border Enforcement Team, marijuana, Operation Frozen TImber, Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceAlex Meyerovich

One of the Canadian masterminds behind a massive northern border drug smuggling operation was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday, November 7, 2012, for conspiracy to import marijuana.

Henry Rosenau, 61, of Armstrong, British Columbia, was indicted in 2006 following a cross-border investigation dubbed “Operation Frozen Timber” led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Rosenau’s sentence comes following his July guilty plea, which pre-empted a re-trial and ended a protracted legal battle to derail the U.S. prosecution that included extradition challenges and frivolous lawsuits against witnesses, prosecutors and law enforcement.

“Operation Frozen Timber” led authorities to the Okanogan National Forest where undercover HSI special agents observed Rosenau and his co-conspirators smuggling B.C. Bud marijuana into the United States and cocaine into Canada using helicopters. The first of its kind investigation led HSI to develop new techniques to detect and suppress this type of border smuggling.

“The remote forest areas that concealed Rosenau’s and his co-conspirators’ smuggling operation also provided law enforcement with the perfect platform to observe their criminal activity,” said Brad Bench special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “Rosenau was the air courier service to several transnational criminal organizations. While he was busy turning drug smuggling by helicopter into a growth industry, HSI and its border enforcement partners were building the case that dismantled his criminal enterprise and brought him to justice.”

In his plea agreement, Rosenau admitted that, between 2000 and 2005, he flew dozens of loads of marijuana into forested areas in western and eastern Washington, Idaho, and Montana. He also smuggled Canadians across the border into the U.S. to work as drug mules to transport their illicit cargo across the United States. Investigators say he ran his smuggling operation from his home-based heliport, landing as many as five helicopters in the front yard of his remote property in British Columbia.

Rosenau was first contacted by Canadian law enforcement in 2005 as he returned to Canada after delivering a load. In the helicopter’s cockpit, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found a loaded handgun, night vision goggles, two satellite telephones and a GPS device that contained known landing sites used by marijuana traffickers.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of more than 15 years. They portrayed Rosenau as a shrewd man who flouted the law and gamed the system for his personal benefit saying: “[Rosenau] skirts the law when he believes doing so will benefit him, who prevaricates when asked what he did and why, and who believes dealing with governments (from pilot and aircraft regulations to police investigations to court matters) is some sort of a game. […] With some shrewdness, the defendant dealt well in the world of drug smugglers. He flew for some of the bigger and well-known drug traffickers…”

More than 40 defendants were indicted in connection with Operation Frozen Timber. During the course of the operation, U.S. and Canadian enforcement teams intercepted more than 17 drug loads, including more than 5,000 pounds of B.C. Bud and one shipment in February 2005 involving five suitcases packed with 169 kilograms of cocaine.

Operation Frozen Timber was conducted under the auspices of the Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), a multi-agency law enforcement team comprised of representatives from Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies. Members of the IBET work together with local, state and provincial enforcement agencies to target cross-border criminal activity, including investigations involving national security and organized crime. Additional assistance was provided by U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington prosecuted the case.

Puerto Rican Fugitives Arrested by HSI for Drug Trafficking and Weapons Violations

October 19, 2012blogarrest, criminal, criminal activity, drug, Drug Enforcement Administration, drug ring, drug smuggling, drug trade, drug trafficking, drugs, FBI, fugitive, gun control, guns, HSI, ICE, Metropolitan Detention Center, money laundering, narcotics, Operation Lighthouse, Puerto Rico, US Marshals Service, USMS, Violent Offenders Task Force, weapons, weapons violationsAlex Meyerovich

Two fugitives wanted for weapons violations and drug trafficking were arrested Tuesday, October 16, 2012, in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, by members of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Violent Offenders Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents.

Edwin Monge-Peña, 29, wanted by HSI for drug trafficking, and Luis Daniel Rivera-Carrasquillo, 32, wanted by the FBI for weapons violations, were arrested by USMS and HSI special agents in the vicinity of Paseo de Torre Alta in the municipality of Barranquitas, while they were looking for a third fugitive who remains at-large. During the arrest, special agents asked for and obtained consent to search the residence, resulting in the seizure of six rifles; a 9 mm pistol; a machine gun; several magazines, ammunition and cellular telephones; and more than $10,000 in cash.

“These men made the wrong decision by engaging themselves in criminal activity and again, by evading their arrest,” said Angel Melendez, acting special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “HSI will continue working with our partners in the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Offenders Task Force to apprehend those who think they can commit a crime and then run and hide.”

Monge-Peña is one of the 53 individuals indicted for drug trafficking and money laundering and was a target of Operation Lighthouse, a joint HSI-U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that culminated in the arrest of 44 individuals Oct. 4.

Both men were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, awaiting the outcome of their case.