Southern District of California

SAN DIEGO – Randal Vance pleaded guilty in federal court today to multiple drug charges, admitting he dosed his children with hallucinogenic drugs and led a conspiracy that employed the children to help cultivate, produce and distribute the psilocybin mushrooms at locations in Fallbrook and Bonsall.

Vance, the ringleader of the conspiracy, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to use a minor to produce and distribute a controlled substance, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, two counts of distributing a controlled substance to minors, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Two co-defendants - his wife Rebecca Vance and friend Keir Ceballos-Rivera - previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. 

In his plea agreement, Randal Vance admitted his boys were 9 and 11 when the conspiracy to produce psilocybin began at locations on Ash Street in Fallbrook and Lilac Road in Bonsall. Psilocybin mushrooms are a controlled substance that act as hallucinogenic drugs, inducing altered states of consciousness and vivid sensory experiences.

The defendant admitted in his plea agreement that he maintained two websites, psillyrabbit.com and psillyrabbitmushrooms.com, as well as the Instagram page psillyrabbitca, to market and sell psilocybin. He sold whole dried and freeze-dried psilocybin mushrooms over the internet as well as chocolates containing psilocybin and capsules containing pure psilocybin.

Randal Vance admitted providing psilocybin capsules for his oldest son, age 12 at that time, to sell to his friends. He also admitted providing the drug to his wife, Rebecca Vance, to distribute to others.

According to his plea agreement, beginning around October 2023, Randal Vance began dosing the 9- and 11-year-old victims with psilocybin capsules every other day, increasing to every day by 2024. 

According to the plea agreement, on October 4, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants on the Fallbrook and Bonsall locations. At the Ash Street location, law enforcement recovered approximately 204 pounds of fresh psilocybin mushrooms, 53 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms, 18 pounds of inoculated substrate to grow psilocybin mushrooms, and equipment used to grow, harvest, and process psilocybin mushrooms. 

At the Lilac Road location, law enforcement recovered approximately 25 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms and five pounds of psilocybin capsules. Law enforcement officials also seized six firearms from the Lilac Road location: a Glock 34 pistol, a Walther P22 pistol, a Henry Survival AR7 rifle, a Smith and Wesson revolver, an H&R Model 900 revolver, and a Browning 30-06 rifle. None of the firearms were locked up, and loaded magazines were found next to the Glock 34 and Walther P22. 

Randal Vance was arrested that day. Prior to his federal arrest, he was out on bond pending state charges. After Randal Vance’s arrest by local law enforcement, he and his co-defendants conspired together to destroy evidence by deleting phone messages and taking down the websites Randal Vance had used to distribute psilocybin, the plea agreement said

Randal Vance is scheduled to be sentenced September 18 at 9 a.m.  by U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie. Rebecca Vance is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17; Keir Ceballos-Rivera on August 28.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Benjamin.

If you are concerned that your child may have been exposed to illegal drugs as a result of the activities alleged in this case, please contact the DEA at https://www.dea.gov/submit-tip.

DEFENDANTS                                  Case Number 25-cr-00817                                       

Randal Vance                                     Age: 43                                   Fallbrook, CA

Rebecca Vance                                   Age: 42                                   Oceanside, CA

Keir Ceballos-Rivera                          Age: 34                                   Oceanside, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Employ or Use Minors to Violate the Controlled Substances Act – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841, 846, and 861(a)

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum one year to 40 years in prison

Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance- – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841 and 846

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison

Distribution of a Controlled Substance to Minors– Title 21, U.S.C., Section 859(a)

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum one year to 40 years in prison

Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice- – Title 18, U.S.C., Sections 1503(a), (b)(3), and 371

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

San Diego Sheriff’s Department

SAN DIEGO – Julianna C. Lung pleaded guilty in federal court today to health care fraud, admitting she marketed and sold hearing protection devices to United States Border Patrol agents, other federal employees, and their family members, then falsely billed insurance providers for what she claimed were medically-necessary hearing aids.

According to her plea agreement, Lung submitted approximately 385 fraudulent claims to health insurance plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. The claims falsely represented that beneficiaries suffered from hearing loss or tinnitus that required treatment.

In reality, Lung told customers the devices were intended to protect their hearing—not treat a medical condition—and assured them their insurance would cover the cost for that purpose.

As a result of the scheme, FEHB plans paid approximately $2,500 per device, totaling about $962,500 in fraudulent reimbursements.

Lung is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11, 2026, at 9 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Manahan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California.   

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 26cr2399-RSH                                   

Julianna C. Lung                                             Age: 60                                   San Diego, California

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Health Care Fraud—Title 18, U.S.C. Section 1347

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine 

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Inspector General

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ('Fraud Division'). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment charges a mother and daughter with conspiring to defraud Medicare by billing millions of dollars for wound care services while the mother—the licensed nurse practitioner listed as the provider—was serving time in federal prison.

The charges are part of the Department of Justice’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

According to the indictment, Blanca Estela Cardenas, a San Diego nurse practitioner and owner of Mobile Care Medical Providers, LLC and B&R Wound Care, Inc., and her daughter, Raquel Pasillas, allegedly carried out a scheme to bill Medicare for mobile medical services between April and October 2024.

Prosecutors allege that during that time, Cardenas was incarcerated, serving a federal sentence for an unrelated bulk cash smuggling conviction and was therefore unable to personally provide care or supervise medical services as required under Medicare regulations.

Despite her incarceration, the indictment alleges, the businesses continued submitting claims to Medicare under Cardenas’ National Provider Identifier (NPI), falsely representing that she was the rendering provider for the services.

According to prosecutors, Pasillas—who held operational leadership roles at the businesses but had no medical license or certification—personally provided medical services to Medicare beneficiaries, including wound care and the application of costly skin substitute allografts.

Over the six-month period, the defendants allegedly submitted approximately $9.5 million in claims to Medicare and received approximately $5.5 million in reimbursements.

The indictment further alleges the pair diverted fraud proceeds for personal use, including more than $4.7 million in cash withdrawals, deposits into their personal bank accounts, and rent payments for Cardenas’ residence while she remained in custody.

“Every dollar stolen through health care fraud is a dollar taken from patient care,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

“Those who commit health care fraud cause real harm because they drain critical resources from programs meant to support some of our most vulnerable community members,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office. “Schemes like this undermine trust in our health care system and drive up costs for everyone. Working closely with HHS OIG and the Justice Department, the FBI will continue to pursue those who exploit federally funded programs and ensure they face the consequences of their actions.”

The charges announced today by U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon are part of a strategically coordinated, nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims and significant patient harm, including death. Today’s takedown represents a new era in federal, state, and international cooperation to combat health care fraud: cases in 56 federal districts and 45 U.S. states and territories, with 50 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units participating, the most in Department history. 

In addition, unprecedented international cooperation over the two-week takedown resulted in the apprehension and return to the United States of the following health care fraudsters: one defendant in Kyrenia in connection with an over $3.7 billion scheme; two defendants in Estonia in connection with a previously charged $10.6 billion scheme; and, in the Philippines, one of FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters in connection with a previously-charged $1.2 billion telemedicine fraud scheme. The takedown involves the cutting-edge use of data analytics to target the worst actors; the seizure of over $182 million in cash, luxury vehicles, jewelry, and other assets; and full-spectrum accountability for all criminal actors from doctor’s offices to corporate boardrooms.   

Today’s coordinated enforcement action involves a whole-of-government approach, including: 

• Actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to suspend 1,079 providers and revoke billing privileges for 1,403 providers.
• 48 Civil Monetary Payment settlements amounting to over $73 million, over 1,400 provider exclusions, and 25 actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”) under the Civil Monetary Penalties Law seeking more than $10 billion in payments to the Medicare Trust Fund from payments that CMS caught and suspended before the funds were paid to the fraudulent providers.
• Civil charges against 13 defendants for $14.8 million in health care fraud schemes, as well as civil settlements with 31 defendants totaling $23 million.
• 928 administrative cases by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seeking the revocation of authority to handle and/or prescribe controlled substances since October 1, 2025.

The cases are being prosecuted by the Health Care Fraud Unit’s National Rapid Response, Florida, Gulf Coast, Los Angeles, Midwest, New England, Northeast, Texas, and West Coast Strike Forces; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Middle District of Alabama, District of Arizona, Central District of California, Southern District of California, District of Colorado, District of Connecticut, District of Delaware, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Northern District of Georgia, District of Hawaii, District of Idaho, Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa, Western District of Kentucky, Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Montana, District of Nebraska, District of New Hampshire, District of New Jersey, District of New Mexico, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina, Northern District of Ohio, Northern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma, District of Oregon, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania, District of Puerto Rico, District of Rhode Island, District of South Carolina, District of South Dakota, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, District of Vermont, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia, Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia, Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Western District of Wisconsin; and State Attorneys General’s Offices, through their MFCUs, in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. In addition, the MFCUs for Alabama, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Virigina participated in the investigation of federal cases announced today.

Descriptions of each case involved in today’s enforcement action are available on the Department’s website here.

The case in the Southern District of California is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero.

DEFENDANTS                                              Case Number 26cr2236                                            

Blanca Estela Cardenas                                  Age: 55                                   Chula Vista, CA

Raquel Pasillas                                               Age: 33                                    Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1349

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison, $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, whichever is greater

Health Care Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1347

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison, $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, whichever is greater

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

FBI

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General

*Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ('Fraud Division'). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

SAN DIEGO – Isaac Jimenez, a U.S. citizen and San Diego resident, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting his role in an alien smuggling conspiracy that held would-be migrants hostage in Mexico while demanding ransom payments from distraught families who paid tens of thousands of dollars in vain.

As part of his plea, Jimenez acknowledged that he coordinated alien smuggling events that brought migrants to the United States from Mexico illegally for a price. Jimenez further admitted he collected ransom payments from family members of migrants who, instead of being smuggled into the U.S., were held against their will in Tijuana, never to be seen again. In at least two cases, the victims—a father of four U.S. citizen children and a young woman from Tijuana—disappeared after their families made multiple ransom payments to secure their freedom.

According to his plea agreement, although Jimenez did not personally hold migrants captive, he knew his coconspirators were committing these acts in furtherance of the broader smuggling scheme. Despite that knowledge, he continued to participate in the conspiracy and committed acts to advance it.

For example, in September 2024, Jimenez personally collected $15,000 in ransom payments from the U.S. citizen wife of the father of four who was being held against his will in Mexico by the smuggling organization. Jimenez admitted he later transported the $15,000 to Mexico and delivered it to his coconspirators. Afterward, additional ransom demands were made by the organization, some of which the man’s spouse and other family members were able to pay. Despite these payments, the smuggling organization threatened to kill the man unless his family made additional payments. After the family could give no more money, all communications from the smuggling organization ceased. The man’s whereabouts remain unknown. According to his plea agreement, to the best of Jimenez’s knowledge, the man was killed in Mexico.

In December 2024, Jimenez agreed to coordinate the smuggling of a 20-year-old woman from Tijuana, Mexico, for a smuggling fee of $7,000. Before the woman was smuggled into the United States, however, Jimenez’s coconspirators in Mexico held her against her will and demanded $30,000 from her family in exchange for her release. The smuggling organization then sent video calls to the woman’s fiancé and family members showing them pointing firearms at her and kicking her in the chest and head. The conspirators threatened to kill the woman if their ransom demands were not met. Despite the woman’s family sending an additional $10,000 to the smuggling organization, she was still not released. To the best of Jimenez’s knowledge, the woman was killed in Mexico.

As part of his guilty plea, Jimenez has agreed to pay $24,500 to the family members of the missing migrants, for funeral and related expenses and as restitution for a portion of the ransom payments made to the smuggling organization in the course of the conspiracy.

Jimenez is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11, 2026,  before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Miller and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Samson Schatz.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 25cr2648-JLS                        

Isaac Jimenez                                                  Age: 30                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Bring in Certain Aliens – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371, and Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii)

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine

Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii)

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison (and a mandatory minimum three years) and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Homeland Security Investigations

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. 

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 75 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week: 

• On June 6, Ana Sanchez, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry discovered 31 pounds of fentanyl and 21 pounds hidden in the seats and quarter panels of her car. She was previously convicted of the federal offense of importing drugs into the Southern District in 2018.
• On June 9, Carlos Nunez-Valdivia, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation . According to a complaint, Nunez-Valdivia applied for admission to the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry by falsely claiming to be a lawful permanent resident. He has been previously deported at least three times.
• On June 9, Victor Manuel Garcia-Ramirez, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Garcia-Ramirez attempted to smuggle two undocumented Chinese nationals into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry inside a non-factory compartment built beneath the undercarriage of a Nissan Armada.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO –Victor Hugo Villalobos Almazan and his wife, Nayeli Noemi Montoya Rodriguez, Mexican nationals who entered the U.S. on tourist visas, pleaded guilty in federal court today to bank fraud charges, admitting they participated in a conspiracy to fraudulently sell homes they did not own and launder approximately $1 million in proceeds.

According to the plea agreement, conspirators posed as legitimate property owners and used fraudulent documents to sell real estate they did not own to unsuspecting buyers. They then routed the proceeds from the illegal sales through bank accounts controlled by the defendants.

To carry out the scheme, the defendants’ co-conspirators created email addresses that closely resembled those of the legitimate property owners and used them to market properties they did not own to unsuspecting buyers, the plea agreement said. By conducting transactions entirely through email, they avoided meeting buyers in person and concealed their identities.

Once a sale was arranged, the defendants’ co-conspirators used forged property transfer documents that falsely appeared to bear the property owner’s signature, allowing ownership of the property to be fraudulently transferred to the unwitting buyer. Villalobos and Montoya admitted they opened bank accounts using business names similar to those of the legitimate property owners and used those accounts to receive the illicit proceeds from the fraudulent sales before transferring the money abroad. 

Specifically, Villalobos and Montoya admitted they lied to open bank accounts to facilitate the illegal sales of homes at 3873 36th Street and 555 Hollister Street in San Diego. The plea agreement said the defendants received:

• $400,748.41 of illicit proceeds from the fraudulent sale of 3873 36th Street. In April 2023, Montoya transmitted nearly the entire amount of money to bank accounts in Mexico.
• $561,463.25 of illicit proceeds from the fraudulent sale of 555 Hollister Street. Upon receipt, Villalobos withdrew all the money by international wire transfers to accounts in Mexico and Jordan, and in cash withdrawals.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on September 4, 2026, at 9 a.m.  before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Beeler and David Kete.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 25-CR-4686-DMS                             

Victor Hugo Villalobos Almazan                   Age: 48                                   Mexico

Nayeli Noemi Montoya Rodriguez                Age: 48                                   Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Bank Fraud Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $250,000 fine

Bank Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1344(2)

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ('Fraud Division'). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

SAN DIEGO – San Diego Police Detective Sergeant William “Bill” Miles today received the first “Hometown Hero” Award in recognition of his extraordinary leadership, compassion, and tireless efforts to combat the fentanyl epidemic in San Diego County.

The inaugural award was presented by U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon at a ceremony at the DEA San Diego headquarters today.

In commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary, the 2026 Hometown Hero award was established to recognize individuals who exemplify the enduring American ideals of liberty, service, and civic responsibility. The program selected one Hometown Hero for each of the nation’s 93 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.

Detective Sergeant Miles was selected for his extraordinary dedication to seeking justice for families devastated by fentanyl and his tireless efforts to remove dangerous drug traffickers from local communities. 

A 28-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, Detective Sergeant Miles has served since 2023 as Group Supervisor of the Overdose Response Team, a multi-agency task force led by the Drug Enforcement Administration in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, La Mesa Police Department, the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, and the California Department of Health Care Services.

The Overdose Response Team was established to confront the alarming rise in overdose deaths across San Diego County by investigating fentanyl and other dangerous drug distributions linked to fatal overdoses. The team responds to overdose deaths in the cities of San Diego and La Mesa, conducts follow-up investigations, and pursues both state and federal prosecutions against those responsible for distributing deadly narcotics.

Under Detective Sergeant Miles’ leadership, the team has responded to more than 315 overdose deaths, leading to countless investigations and numerous successful prosecutions that have brought accountability and a measure of justice to grieving families. His efforts also contributed to a significant 39 percent decline in overdose deaths, from a high of 814 in 2022 to 494 in 2024.

As Group Supervisor, Detective Sergeant Miles oversees a team of eight to 10 investigators and two analysts. Known for his unwavering dedication, he is available around the clock and routinely responds to overdose scenes and investigative operations at all hours of the day and night. In addition to leading operations, he frequently works directly in the field alongside investigators.

Beyond his investigative work, Detective Sergeant Miles has earned the admiration of victims’ families for his compassion and humanity during some of the darkest moments of their lives. Family members have repeatedly expressed gratitude for the empathy and support he provides while relentlessly pursuing justice against those responsible for distributing deadly fentanyl.

Detective Sergeant Miles also champions outreach and intervention efforts aimed at preventing future overdose deaths and connecting community members with critical resources. The Overdose Response Team has been recognized nationally as a model for combating the opioid epidemic and has played a vital role in the significant reduction of overdose deaths in San Diego County.

“Detective Sergeant Miles’ dedication to protecting the community, supporting victims’ families, and holding fentanyl traffickers accountable has touched countless lives,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “His service exemplifies the very meaning of a hometown hero.”

“Sergeant Miles embodies the spirit of public service and is an invaluable member of the DEA San Diego team,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge James Nunnelly. “He is committed to finding answers and accountability for families who have been torn apart by fentanyl and bringing to justice those who threaten the safety of our community. We are truly honored to have Sergeant Miles on our team.”

Detective Sergeant Miles said: “Receiving this award is a tremendous honor and a testament to the work of the Narcotics Task Force Overdose Response Team (Team 10). I have had the privilege of leading an exceptional group of professionals whose dedication, investigative expertise, and commitment to justice have made a meaningful impact in our community. This recognition belongs to every member of Team 10 and to our community partners who work alongside us to identify and apprehend those responsible for distributing deadly drugs.”

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 148 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week: 

• On May 30, Luis Andres Pereyda Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 203 pounds of cocaine concealed in the bed of his Ford F-150 truck as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On June 2, Lorenzo Mendoza-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents apprehended Mendoza-Hernandez, an unauthorized alien who was previously deported in 2016 through Calexico, after a brief foot chase about three miles north of the border and eight miles west of the Tecate and Port of Entry.
• On June 3, Qi Hua He, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, He attempted to smuggle in a Chinese national via the San Ysidro Port of Entry using a passport that had been lawfully issued to someone else.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Oladapo Olagbemi, a longtime certified public accountant, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he filed thousands of false income tax returns on behalf of clients that resulted in more than $5 million in improper deductions and credits.

Olagbemi, who managed San Diego-based D.A.O. Accounting, Consulting, and Taxation, pleaded guilty to four counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns. Shortly before tax day, April 15, 2026, he signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to multiple schemes between tax years 2019 and 2023 to help clients get illegitimate refunds by claiming business expenses, charitable gifts, and energy credits to which the taxpayers were not entitled. 

Olagbemi is scheduled to be sentenced on August 28, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro.

Based on Olagbemi’s plea agreement, one of his schemes was preparing false Schedules 1, C, and E accompanying his client’s individual income tax returns between at least 2020 and 2023. He prepared returns that reported false business losses totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Taxpayer clients had no such reportable business, and the expenses he claimed for them were non-deductible personal expenses. Olagbemi knew the taxpayers were not entitled to report such losses or the resulting decreases in taxable income. During that four-year period, he prepared at least 5,470 Form 1040 returns with Schedules C. At least 3,981 of those had no gross receipts for the falsely claimed businesses. 

Another of Olagbemi’s schemes was preparing false Forms 2106 to accompany taxpayers’ Form 1040 returns. On this form, Olagbemi advised and presented to the IRS purported business expenses and resulting decreases in taxable income, even though he knew the taxpayer was not permitted to use the 2106 form because they were not a fee-based state or local government official. Between 2020 and 2023, Olagbemi was involved in presenting to the IRS at least 1,684 Forms 2106 with individual clients’ tax returns. After Olagbemi became aware of the IRS’s investigation of his fraudulent use of Schedule C returns, he increased his use of fraudulent use of Forms 2106—and prepared several of them even after being notified by the IRS about the proper uses of this form. 

Olagbemi also used Schedules A to prepare and submit false income tax returns. On these documents, he falsely claimed or overstated gifts to charity and corresponding itemized deductions of tens of thousands of dollars, even though he knew the taxpayer was not entitled to report such charitable contributions. 

Further, based on the plea agreement, Olagbami prepared individual tax returns falsely claiming residential energy credits. He prepared and presented false Forms 5695 to accompany Form 1040 tax returns between at least 2021 and 2023. On these Forms 5695, he advised a taxpayer client to falsely claim solar water heating property costs, even though he knew the client did not purchase or have any such costs and was not entitled to report them or the corresponding tax credits. 

Based on the plea and restitution agreements, Olagbemi agreed to restitution of least $1,522,794 based on his schemes and resulting tax losses between 2018 and 2023. He also agreed to be permanently prohibited from preparing, assisting in, directing, or supervising the preparation or filing of federal tax returns for anyone other than himself. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Horn. 

DEFENDANT                                          Case Number 26CR1982-RBM

Oladapo Olagbemi                                    Age: 72                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Aiding and Assisting in Preparation of False Income Tax Returns – Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(2)

Maximum penalty (per count): Three years in prison; fine of up to $250,000

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation

SAN DIEGO – A Homeland Security Task Force federal drug investigation of a supposed retail store in Otay Mesa has resulted in the discovery of a sophisticated cross-border tunnel and charges against four people for conspiring to distribute more than a ton of cocaine estimated to be worth $45 million.

The subterranean passageway, stretching from Tijuana, Mexico to the purported retail store near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry known as “Buy 4 Less,” is estimated to be about 1,933 feet long, 55 feet deep and 4.5-feet in height, with reinforced walls, rail and ventilation systems and electricity.

The defendants include Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez of San Diego; Brandon Escalante Sandoval of Mexico; Jose Jimenez of San Diego; and Antonio Cortez of Mexico. Hernandez Lopez is charged with Conspiracy to Use a Cross-Border Tunnel and Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances; all are charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances.

According to a federal complaint, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations Tunnel Task Force maintained regular surveillance on the Buy 4 Less warehouse from December 2025 to May 2026 due to suspicious activity there. 

In December 2025, a new group of around seven or eight “employees” were seen regularly, in and around Buy 4 Less. These individuals included defendant Hernandez, whom agents observed at Buy 4 Less beginning in at least January 2026. During the surveillance, the activity around the Buy 4 Less location did not appear to be consistent with a normal retail location. For example, investigators observed minimal foot traffic from customers coming in and out of the Buy 4 Less store. 

Hernandez and the other supposed “employees” that regularly frequented the store engaged in unusual activity such as transporting large numbers of suitcases out of the store and into vehicles or walking the suitcases across the border into Mexico. Based on how Hernandez and the others handled the suitcases, they appeared to be empty so law enforcement did not intervene.

According to the complaint, on May 29, 2026, while conducting surveillance on Buy 4 Less, agents observed a male loading three large, heavy items into a white van which departed Buy 4 Less and ultimately parked on the street near a mechanic shop located at 923½ Coolidge Ave. A male on a bicycle, later identified as defendant Brandon Escalante, was seen conducting counter surveillance in the area by riding his bicycle while looking around and into parked cars. 

Escalante later approached the van, removed the vehicle key that had been concealed in the gas cap area, got into the van and reversed it into 923½ Coolidge Avenue. Agents observed that the van was backed up to another white van with the rear doors from both vans open. A white stake bed truck then entered 923½ Coolidge Avenue. Agents watched people remove three deep freezers from the first van and place them onto the bed of the truck, then load the deep freezers with packages.

After the packages were loaded into the deep freezers, the truck exited 923½ Coolidge Avenue and parked a short distance away. Escalante was seen exiting the truck, grabbing his bicycle from the truck bed, placing the keys underneath the truck on the passenger side, and departing the area. Agents then observed another male, later identified as Defendant Jimenez, grab the vehicle keys and drive away in the truck. San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies subsequently conducted a traffic stop of the truck, with lights flashing, and a K9 police dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances.

Shortly after the traffic stop of the truck, agents watching Buy 4 Less observed two unidentified males take heavy boxes out of Buy 4 Less and load them into a second truck. Hernandez entered the second truck and drove away. San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop of that second truck a short distance away from the Buy 4 Less, and a K9 police dog alerted to the presence of controlled substances.

San Diego Sheriff's deputies also stopped the second van, driven by a male later identified as Antonio Cortez, at 923½ Coolidge Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies again received a positive K9 alert for the presence of controlled substances in the vehicle.

According to the complaint, following the traffic stops, federal agents discovered the following during inspections of the second van and two trucks:

• 173 total packages in the truck stopped near 923½ Coolidge Avenue, with a total approximate weight of 286.20 kgs (630.96 lbs.);

• 423 total packages in the truck stopped near Buy 4 Less, with a total approximate weight of 469.40 kgs (1034.84 lbs.); and

• 255 total packages in the van stopped near 923½ Coolidge Avenue, with a total approximate weight of 274 kgs (604.06 lbs.).

The packages contained a substance, a sample of which field tested positive for cocaine, with a total approximate weight of 1,029.60 kgs (2,269.87 pounds)—or well over 1 ton.

Following seizure of the suspected cocaine on May 29, 2026, a U.S. Magistrate Judge signed warrants authorizing searches at Buy 4 Less and 923½ Coolidge Avenue. At Buy 4 Less, agents found the exit point of the subterranean tunnel, concealed under the floor of a storage room within the store. The tunnel, which was accessed using a sophisticated hydraulic lift, is approximately 55 feet deep and extends approximately 1,064 feet from its exit point at Buy 4 Less to the U.S./Mexico International Border, where agents estimate it continues for another approximately 800 feet to its entry point. The tunnel is equipped with electricity and ventilation and, at some points, is up to 4.5 feet tall.

“For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

“This investigation and seizure represent a significant blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The discovery and dismantlement of this sophisticated cross-border tunnel, along with the seizure of more than a ton of cocaine, underscore the commitment and collaboration of Homeland Security Investigations and our Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners” said Kevin Murphy, acting Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Diego. “HSI Special Agents and task force members worked tirelessly to disrupt the flow of dangerous narcotics into our communities, and we remain steadfast in our mission to protect the public and keep our communities safe.”

“Criminal organizations continue to look for ways to exploit our border, but they underestimate the determination of the men and women protecting it,” said U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre. “This tunnel’s discovery is a testament to our strong partnerships and the unwavering commitment of law enforcement on both sides of the border.”

“Law enforcement collaboration is the backbone of dismantling sophisticated transnational drug cartels, as these organizations rely on vast illicit supply chains spanning multiple jurisdictions,” said San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez. “Joint operations disrupt trafficking networks, choke illicit financial flows, and prevent transnational cartels from exploiting jurisdictional gaps. The Sheriff's Office is grateful for the partnerships, hard work, and dedication of everyone involved in this investigation and we will continue to support our federal partners in cases that keep our communities safe.”

“The San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA proudly supports federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to target transnational criminal organizations who place a priority on proceeds from drug trafficking over human lives,” said David King, Executive Director of  San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA. “The drugs recovered from this sophisticated cross border tunnel will thankfully never make it into communities throughout California and the United States thereby saving countless lives from the scourges of drug addiction and overdose deaths.”

There have been 99 subterranean passages discovered in the Southern District of California since 1993. Of those, 28 were considered sophisticated. The last operational tunnel discovered in the Southern District of California was in 2022.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie E. Torres.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Deshong and Jordan Arakawa.

Video of the tunnel: 

https://youtube.com/shorts/PkMfeXh6C6Y

https://youtube.com/shorts/6D0kSckaSE0

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 26mj03219                                         

Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez             Age: 29                            San Diego, California

Jose Jimenez                                                               Age: 32                            San Diego, California

Antonio Cortez                                              Age: 18                           Mexico

Brandon Escalante Sandoval                         Age: 26                           Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Constructing, Financing, or Using Unauthorized Tunnels—Title 18, U.S.C., Section 555

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

*Hernandez Lopez

Importation of a Controlled Substance—Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841 and 846

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

*Hernandez Lopez

Distribution of a Controlled Substance—Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841 and 846

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

*All defendants

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Border Patrol

San Diego County Sheriff’s Office

Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Federal Bureau of Investigation

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program

California Department of Justice

*Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 119 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week: 

• On May 23, Diego Salinas, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 104 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the firewall, dashboard and both front seats of a vehicle driven by the defendant. Salinas, who had applied for entry to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, admitted being paid $5,000 to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.
• On May 23, Juan David Garzon Laverde, Ivan Sendejas-Cervantes, Jose Luis Cardoso-Aguilera, Jose Alfredo Hernandez-Medina and Antonio Palacios-Ruiz - all Mexican nationals - were arrested and charged in connection with a maritime smuggling event. According to a complaint, Garzon, the alleged boat captain, was charged with Attempted Transportation of Illegal Aliens; Sendejas-Cervantes, who was allegedly guiding the aliens across the beach in Carlsbad after the boat came ashore, was charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain; and the remaining defendants were charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
• On May 27, Jose Luis Cruz-Cruz, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found Cruz hiding in a bush about 100 yards north of the border and five miles west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Richard Russell was sentenced in federal court today to 12 years in prison for fatally shooting a 36-year-old unarmed man who was struck four times from behind as he tried to run away from authorities.

Russell was convicted by a federal jury in March following a two-week trial and less than seven hours of deliberation. The jury found that the defendant violated the civil rights of the victim, Nicholas Bils, by fatally shooting him in the back as he ran away. 

At trial, Russell was found guilty of both counts filed against him. For Count 1 - Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law – he was sentenced to 24 months; For Count 2, he received the mandatory minimum sentence of 120 months for Use and Discharge of a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence. The sentenced are to be served consecutively, for a total of 12 years.

“The Constitution protects every person from the unjustified use of deadly force by law enforcement officers,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. 

“Today's sentence demonstrates the FBI's sworn duty to investigate any potential civil rights violation,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI will always stand behind our mission of upholding the Constitution and protecting the American people.”

Russell, who has been free on bond, was ordered to report to prison by July 13 at noon. 

Before pronouncing sentence, U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson said: “Law enforcement is rightfully held to a higher standard because of the power they’re imbued with to protect the community…It is difficult to imagine offense conduct more aggravated than intentionally taking the life of another person.”

In a statement from the victim’s mother that was read by prosecutors at the hearing, Kathleen Bils said the loss of her son was “excruciating.” She described him as kind, thoughtful and gentle. “No mother should ever be awakened in the middle of the night to hear her child has been killed by law enforcement for running away. To hear that those trained and sworn to protect us have shot and killed one of us for fleeing is egregious.”

The victim’s cousin recalled a happy childhood growing up with Bils, and her grief over his killing. “My faith has been shattered. My family has been shattered . . . I just want Nicky to come home, but he won’t.”

According to evidence presented at trial, on May 1, 2020, the defendant—who at the time was a deputy with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department—fired five shots at the unarmed victim as he attempted to flee from custody while California State Parks Police officers were transporting him to the San Diego Central Jail in downtown San Diego. Four of the rounds fired by the defendant hit Bils, including one that struck Bils squarely in the back and fatally pierced his heart and lung.  After being shot, Bils staggered to the northwest corner of Front and B Streets, where he collapsed, his body falling half on the sidewalk and half in a planter next to a tree. Other officers and paramedics tried to save his life, but he was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to the hospital.

The shooting was captured on multiple surveillance cameras along Front Street, as well as on body-worn camera footage from officers who responded to the scene shortly afterward.  No other officer on scene at the time of the shooting even pulled their firearm when Bils began running away.  At trial, multiple officers testified that it was apparent that Bils was not a threat to anyone, that they never for a moment considered shooting Bils, and that it “wasn’t even a close call.”  Other eyewitnesses, including a nurse and a firefighter, testified that they were “shocked” that the defendant shot Bils in the back.  Highlighting the extreme danger he unnecessarily created that day, the fifth round fired by the defendant struck a civilian vehicle that was traveling southbound on Front Street at the time.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Askins and Michael Songer and Department of Justice Civil Rights Trial Attorney Lia Wright Tesconi.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24-cr-1015                            

Aaron Richard Russell                                    Age: 29                                  

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law Using a Dangerous Weapon and Resulting in Death – 18 U.S.C. § 242

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $500,000 fine

Use and Discharge of a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence – 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)

Maximum penalty: Mandatory Minimum 10 years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

SAN DIEGO – Ricardo “Ricky” Orizaba-Zendejas, a Mexican national unlawfully present in the United States, was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison for drug and firearms offenses tied to a violent trafficking organization based in Yakima, Washington.

According to evidence presented at trial in February, Orizaba served as a trusted lieutenant, drug dealer, and enforcer for the organization, which sourced narcotics from Mexico and transported them through Southern California ports of entry through California to Yakima. 

Prosecutors established that the organization was linked to the murders of a husband and his pregnant wife, Cesar Murillo and Maira Hernandez, both former associates who had expressed a desire to leave the organization and cooperate with federal agents.

Evidence showed Orizaba played a central role in the organization’s operations, including trafficking fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine; transporting drug proceeds; collecting debts; arranging gun-for-drugs transactions; and protecting the organization’s leadership and drug loads.

The court heard testimony and reviewed exhibits reflecting Orizaba’s vital role in the organization that murdered and buried Murillo, Hernandez, and their unborn child to further its drug trafficking operations. The evidence showed the killings did not slow the organization’s activities; instead, Orizaba continued working closely with co-defendant Benjamin “Tony” Madrigal-Birrueta, the leader of the trafficking organization, in ongoing drug trafficking operations and threats of violence against those perceived to challenge the organization.

During a February 2023 search of Orizaba’s residence, agents seized more than 11,000 fentanyl pills, nearly one kilogram of fentanyl powder, more than 1.6 kilograms of heroin, a loaded AR-15 rifle, body armor, a money counter, scales, and cash packaging materials. A veteran Yakima narcotics detective testified during the trial the fentanyl seizure was the third largest in the Yakima area at the time.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw told Orizaba, “It’s hard to overstate the nature and scope of this conspiracy, and the violence within that conspiracy.” Judge Sabraw added that Orizaba played a key role in that conspiracy, including a role in the distribution of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine, trailing a load driver from Visalia to Washington, wiring money to others involved in the conspiracy, delivering large sums of money to co-conspirators in Los Angeles, buying guns for drugs, getting drugs from another witness, and responding to Madrigal’s orders, including as the enforcer or protector.   

“This defendant was a critical part of a violent drug trafficking organization that chose to murder a young couple and their unborn child as they attempted to escape for a better life,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. 

“Today’s sentencing is a testament to the tireless dedication and collaboration of HSI and our federal, state, and local HSTF partners to dismantle criminal organizations and bring justice to victims and their loved ones,” said HSI San Diego acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Murphy. “The brutal murders of victims, and their unborn child were carried out by the cartel in furtherance of their illicit activity. We remain steadfast in our commitment to dismantling violent drug trafficking organizations and holding those responsible for such heinous crimes accountable.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Wong and Alexandra Foster.

DEFENDANT                                     Case Number 23cr1684-DMS                                      

Ricardo Orizaba-Zendejas                  Age: 23                        Yakima, WA

SUMMARY OF COUNTS OF CONVICTION

Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances – 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years and up to life, or death

Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime – 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to life

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Drug Enforcement Administration

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Washington State Police

California Highway Patrol

Yakima Police Department

Tulare County Sheriff’s Office

Visalia Police Department 

Fresno Sheriff’s Office

Fresno Police Department

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 114 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week: 

• On May 15, Jose Alberto Garcia Zamudio, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 466 pounds of cocaine concealed in the gas tank of a commercial passenger bus driven by the defendant. Garcia, who had applied for entry to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, admitted being paid $13,000 to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.
• On May 19, Ashley Aremy Ruiz, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Transportation of Illegal Aliens and Conspiracy to Transport Aliens. According to a complaint, Ruiz was taken into custody at Costco in Chula Vista when she attempted to pick up an alien from a smuggler who had been caught with the alien in his trunk while trying to cross into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On May 20, Federico Cruz Alverdin, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found the defendant hiding in a tree about half a mile north of the border and 13 miles east of the Tecate Port of Entry. He was previously deported to Mexico on May 1, 2026, through Phoenix, Arizona.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO –Troy Clinton Van Sickle of Temecula appeared in federal court today to face charges that he stole more than $1.5 million from an elderly woman he claimed to be romantically interested in, and that he obstructed federal law enforcement efforts to investigate the alleged fraud scheme.

According to the indictment and court records, Van Sickle – a 10-time convicted felon who worked as a janitor at a San Diego County preschool – targeted a wealthy divorced woman and cultivated what appeared to be a romantic relationship in order to gain access to her finances. Prosecutors allege that Van Sickle concealed his criminal history, which included convictions for fraud, theft, extortion, and perjury, and instead portrayed himself as a trustworthy and successful businessman.

After gaining the victim’s confidence, Van Sickle allegedly claimed he was facing financial hardship and needed money from the victim to pursue business deals and investment opportunities. He allegedly promised to repay the funds promptly and share future profits.

But it was all a lie. Van Sickle did not intend to repay the woman. He used her money to enrich himself and others and to pay for personal expenses, including to make payments on luxury cars, gamble at casinos, and send money to other women.

The government also alleges that Van Sickle created a miniature replica car company and provided the woman a fake multi-million dollar contract between the company and Lotus Cars to give the impression that his company was legitimate. The woman sent the contract to her financial advisor and wired $150,000 to Van Sickle to fund the purported agreement. Van Sickle then used the money to purchase a 2022 Ferrari SF90 Stradale worth $650,000.

According to the indictment, Van Sickle was on federal supervision for a prior fraud conviction at the time of the criminal offense. He had been ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution to nine victims of that offense and was required to truthfully and accurately report his financial resources to his probation officer. 

To conceal the offense and avoid paying restitution, Van Sickle submitted a false financial packet signed under penalty of perjury to his probation officer that did not include the money he received from the woman, the luxury cars he had purchased and sold, and his gambling winnings and losses.

According to the indictment, upon learning that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had contacted the woman to discuss the money she had wired him, Van Sickle manipulated and exploited her to delete text messages, lie to law enforcement, and sign a false and fraudulent promissory note to make the wired proceeds appear simply as lump-sum loan payable over a 10-year period. Van Sickle also directed the woman to sign a false statement to make it appear as though Van Sickle had already made a $140,000 payment to her through the note. Van Sickle disclosed the woman’s payments to his probation officer, along with the false promissory note and statement, and lied that he had already made a $140,000 payment to the woman. 

Between 2022 and 2023, Van Sickle received approximately 20 money transfers from the woman totaling more than $1.5 million. He has not repaid any of the money to date.

According to court records, there may be other victims of Van Sickle’s scheme to defraud. If you or someone you know has given more than $25,000 to the man depicted in the photographs below, please contact the FBI at (858) 320-1800.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick C. Swan and Sarah M. Fix.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number: 26-cr-1774-RBM                              

Troy Clinton Van Sickle                                Age: 55            Temecula, California

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1343

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $250,000 fine

Money Laundering – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1957

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison and $250,000 fine

False Writing or Document – Title 18, U.S.C., Sections 1001(a)(3) and 2

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine

Falsification of Record in Federal Investigation – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1519

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

False Statement – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1001(a)(2)

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today charging Brandon McGibbon, a San Diego Police Officer, with five counts of child sexual abuse offenses involving three minor victims. 

According to court records, between October 25 and November 6, 2025, McGibbon engaged in the attempted receipt and production of child pornography and the attempted enticement and coercion of the minors to engage in obscene matter and sexual conduct. 

Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the cooperation of the San Diego Police Department, led the investigation. This case is the result of the ongoing efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit and was done with the collaboration of the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. Formed in April 2025, the SVU is tasked with leading collaborations between federal and local law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving sex trafficking and child exploitation, civil rights, and labor trafficking. 

McGibbon is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Brammell and Lyndzie M. Carter. 

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 26cr1939-JO                                      

Brandon McGibbon                                        Age: 33                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography – 18 USC § 2252(a)(2) 

Maximum penalty: Five-year mandatory minimum and up to life

Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor – 18 USC § 2251(a)

Maximum penalty: Ten-year mandatory minimum and up to life

Attempted Enticement of a Minor – 18 USC § 2422(b) 

Maximum penalty: Fifteen-year mandatory minimum and up to life

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation 

*The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Sydney Johnson of Santee and Brandon Marion of Temecula appeared in federal court today to face charges that they illegally imported 27 protected parrots and parakeets in a modified spare tire in the trunk of a car.

Both species of birds - including 11 orange-fronted parakeets (Eupsittula canicularis) and 16 white-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona albifrons) - are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Federal agents detained Johnson and Marion applied for admission to the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on May 3. Customs and Border Protection officers detected anomalies in the spare tire. When an officer inspected the tire, he heard a screeching noise and found the birds in the spare tire, which had been outfitted with a cage

In their post-arrest interviews, the defendants admitted they could hear the birds screaming as they drove. Marion described the birds’ sounds as a “pterodactyl screech.”

One of the birds was already dead; the surviving birds were initially cared for by Veterinary Services at the southern border before being transferred to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. One bird did not survive transit, and two birds died in quarantine. The remaining 23 birds are believed to be recovering from the journey.

White Fronted Amazon Parrots and Orange Fronted Parakeets are protected and are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Concealment of the parrots and parakeets would have resulted in their entering the United States without any quarantine period or process.

To import many types of wildlife, the wildlife must be subject to quarantine before it can be introduced into the United States. Many animals have diseases that can be transferred to humans (zoonotic diseases) or other animals that can have disastrous health effects to human or animal populations. For example, birds can carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu), psittacosis, and histoplasmos. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia and death in humans and other birds including the United States poultry farms. There are many other diseases that can be transmitted from different animals and have disastrous effects, that is why it is necessary to quarantine animals entering the United States to limit and safeguard against this potential disease transmission.

The United States Attorney’s Office is a member of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force, a cross-agency law enforcement effort that also involves the National Fraud Enforcement Division, the Criminal and Civil Divisions, the Environment and Natural Resources Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide. The Task Force was created to leverage all the Department’s tools and authorities to prevent trade fraud that deprives the government of vital revenue, threatens critical domestic industries, undermines consumer confidence, and weakens national security. The Task Force is designed to pursue enforcement actions against parties who seek to evade tariffs and other duties, as well as smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy. The Justice Department encourages whistleblowers to alert the government to credible allegations of fraud, including utilizing the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act or through the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Program at CorporateWhistleblower@usdoj.gov using the form available here.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 26-mj-02857              

Sydney Johnson                                              Age: 27

Brandon Marion                                              Age: 38

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Importation Contrary to Law – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Customs and Border Protection

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 108 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 9, Moises Quintana Luna and Alma Beltran Ponce, Mexican citizens, were arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 151 pounds of methamphetamine concealed throughout the defendants’ vehicle as they tried to cross the border at the Tecate Port of Entry.
• On May 11, Banucio Balderas-Ladino, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found Balderas-Ladino, an unauthorized alien who was previously deported in 2019 through Arizona, hiding in bushes north of the border, about two miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On May 14, Rene Marquez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found two Vietnamese nationals concealed in a non-factory compartment in the rear of the defendant’s vehicle. One of the unauthorized aliens said she felt scared, hot and was doused in gasoline while being transported to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Marquez has four prior drug-importation convictions in the Southern District of California.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Brandon Ivan Padilla of San Marcos pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he committed three carjackings and robbed a business, all while menacing his victims with a firearm.

Padilla admitted that on November 21, 2024, he pointed a gun at a clerk at American Smoke Shop in Escondido and demanded cash. The clerk gave Padilla $320. Padilla also admitted that he demanded a smoke shop customer’s car keys and cash while holding the gun inches from the customer’s ear. The customer handed over the keys; Padilla drove away in the person’s vehicle.

According to his plea agreement, Padilla stole another person’s car at gunpoint a few days later, on November 25, 2024. He admitted to approaching that individual in Escondido, brandishing a firearm and telling the victim to give Padilla all “his shit.” The victim followed Padilla instructions and gave up his phone and car keys. Padilla admitted to then taking control of the car and putting the keys in the ignition, but the car did not start.

Failing to successfully drive away in the car did not stop Padilla from carjacking another vehicle that same day. Padilla admitted to approaching yet another motorist in Escondido, racking his gun and pointing it at that individual’s forehead and chest, and forced the victim out of the truck. The victim did as he was told He also gave his wallet to Padilla who then got in the truck and drove away.

In all three carjackings, Padilla admitted that he would have caused death or serious bodily harm to the victims if they had not given him their cars.

Padilla is scheduled to be sentenced on August 7, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

DEFENDANT                                   Case Number 26CR388-JLS                                              

Brandon Ivan Padilla                          Age: 20                                   San Marcos, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Hobbs Act Robbery (18 U.S.C. §1951)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine

Carjacking (18 U.S.C. §2119)

Maximum penalty: Fifteen years in prison and a $250,000 fine

Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence (18 U.S.C. §924(c)(1)(A))

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and a $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Escondido Police Department

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 83 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 1, Alexis Rios, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found two unauthorized immigrants from Guatemala concealed in a non-factory compartment beneath the spare tire wheel well of the defendant’s car at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On May 4, Juan Manuel Quintana Amador, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 25 pounds of cocaine concealed in the bathroom wall of a commercial passenger bus applying for entry to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On May 5, Jose Miguel Carcamo Maradiaga, a citizen of Honduras, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found the defendant hiding in the brush approximately one mile north of the border and six miles west of the Tecate Port of Entry He was previously deported to Honduras in August 2024 through Alexandria, Louisiana.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Zhao Wang, aka “Oscar,” was sentenced in federal court today to 151 months in prison for leading a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States. 

Wang, a Chinese national, was the lead defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024. According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation and government impersonation, and refund scams targeting elderly victims. Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number.  Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers. Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with victims.  In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims’ computers and to carry on the scams.

One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. In the refund scams, victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge. While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally “over-refunded” money.  The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfers or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy.  In reality, the victims had not been refunded any money and victims were scammed into sending their own money.

Victims were instructed to send the alleged over-refunded money via wire transfers and in bulk cash via express mail packages to members of the conspiracy, including defendant Zhao Wang, in the United States. When a victim was duped into sending bulk cash in the mail, Wang would provide his India-based co-conspirators a fictitious name plus an address of a retail location that could accept express mail packages. Those names and addresses would then be relayed to the victims, who were instructed to express mail the bulk cash. Then, once a victim had sent the cash in the mail, Wang and his co-conspirators would use fake IDs to get the packages of cash sent by the elderly victims.

In sentencing papers, the government argued that Wang oversaw the U.S.-based operation, including co-conspirators who would retrieve victim packages and document themselves retrieving and opening packages and counting the money inside. Agents seized countless such photos and videos from Wang’s phone.

Investigators identified over 2,000 elderly victims from throughout the country, including victims in San Diego, who were defrauded and suffered over $27 million in losses over an approximately two-year period between 2021-2023.

At sentencing, the government emphasized that Wang was explicit that his operation was, in his own words, scamming elderly Americans.  The following conversation from February 2022 was seized from Wang’s cellphone during the investigation:

In publicly filed documents, Wang also admitted that after receiving the fraud proceeds, he and his co-conspirators laundered the money using cryptocurrency back to their foreign-based counterparts.

Wang admitted that typically each day after collecting victim packages, Wang’s co-conspirators would deliver the money from the packages to him. Wang would then coordinate with his foreign-based co-conspirators, who would provide a cryptocurrency wallet that Wang would use to transfer cryptocurrency.  Wang took upwards of 18 percent of the fraud proceeds and transferred the rest via cryptocurrency to his co-conspirators. Wang also admitted that he laundered the proceeds to promote the fraud scheme by using fraud proceeds to pay co-conspirators and to purchase the fake IDs used in the scheme.

“This sentence recognizes the profound human cost of exploiting trust and treating vulnerable people as opportunities for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. 

“Zhao Wang, “Oscar,” and his co-conspirators callously scammed more than 2,000 elderly victims throughout the country with a variety of fraud schemes for years,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Today’s sentence ensures that Wang, the coordinator perpetrating the multitude of scams, is held accountable for his role. FBI San Diego and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively investigate those who think they can prey on our elder population without consequences.”

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie called the scope of the fraud “staggering” and called Wang’s domestic operation of the scheme “100 percent reprehensible.”  In finding Wang specifically targeted elderly victims, Judge Huie emphasized, “Their vulnerability was not incidental.  It was not coincidence.  It was how they were selected.  It was how they came to be scammed.”

The wife and daughter of an 83-year-old victim spoke at the sentencing hearing today. They said that within months of being scammed, the victim lived with suspicion, distrust and resentment and he soon passed away. Judge Huie commented, “It’s really hard to fathom the depth of that harm in somebody’s last months on this planet.”   

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”).  The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people.  The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

DEFENDANTS                                            

Case Number 24-cr-1317-RSH-01

Zhao Wang, aka “Oscar”                                Age: 41                                   Las Vegas, NV

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349, 2326

Maximum Penalties: Forty years in prison; $1 million fine

Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and 1956(h)

Maximum Penalties: Twenty years in prison; maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the amount laundered

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General

Homeland Security Investigations

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

San Diego Police Department

San Diego Elder Justice Task Force

Chino Police Department

Coronado Police Department

Escondido Police Department

Glendora Police Department

Long Beach Police Department

Orange County Sheriff’s Department

SAN DIEGO – Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, a 34-year-old citizen of the Philippines, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he conspired to perpetrate a book publishing scam that caused losses of over $48 million to more than 800 victims throughout the United States.   

Sordilla is the first of four defendants to admit his role in a scheme that targeted authors — most of them seniors — by promising to elevate their work to major publishing deals and Hollywood film adaptations, all in exchange for millions of dollars in fraudulent fees.

According to his plea agreement, Sordilla was the founder and CEO of Innocentrix Philippines, which purported to be a “business process outsourcing” company in the Philippines. Sordilla admitted that he and his co-conspirators created and registered phony business entities in the United States, including:

• PageTurner Press and Media LLC (“PageTurner”), which was incorporated in California in September 2017 and claimed to be a book publishing business located in Chula Vista, California
• The Metro Films LLC (“Metro Films”), which was incorporated in California in April 2022 and claimed to be a motion picture and sound recording business located in Los Angeles, California
• WP Lighthouse LLC (“WP Lighthouse”) was registered in Indiana in July 2024 and claimed to be a book publishing business in Indianapolis, Indiana.

From 2017 until 2024, under the guise of these fictitious businesses, Sordilla and co-conspirators operated a fraudulent network of scammers in the Philippines to enrich themselves by selling false hopes of tremendous professional success to writers in the United States.

According to his plea agreement, Sordilla’s role in the conspiracy was using Innocentrix Philippines to manage a call center in the Philippines where dozens of sales representatives contacted victims in the United States pretending to be literary agents from PageTurner or WP Lighthouse. As part of the conspiracy, the scammers falsely told victims their works had been selected for acquisition by publishers or movie studios, and fraudulently convinced victims to send payments for various services including pre-payment of taxes and transaction fees, before the victim-author’s work could be published or optioned to studios. According to court documents, the conspirators made false representations regarding PageTurner and WP Lighthouse to the victims, including by falsely representing the location of operations, their contacts and communications with literary agents, major traditional publishers, motion picture studios, and popular video streaming services.

As part of the conspiracy, the conspirators impersonated literary agents and executives from major publishers, motion picture studios, and popular video streaming services, or pretended to be representatives from the fake motion picture business Metro Films.  In reality, PageTurner, WP Lighthouse, and Metro Films were fictitious businesses with no relationship to either traditional publishers or Hollywood entertainment companies.

Sordilla directed co-conspirators to open and manage bank accounts in the name of PageTurner and WP Lighthouse LLC at various financial institutions, his plea agreement said. After victim funds were received in bank accounts established on behalf of PageTurner and WP Lighthouse, in order to conceal the location and control of proceeds of the book publishing scam, Sordilla directed co-conspirators to withdraw and transfer victim funds to domestic and international bank accounts in the Philippines controlled by Sordilla and co-conspirators. As part of the conspiracy, Sordilla directed co-conspirators to launder at least $42 million, and received approximately $2,725,951.

As part of the guilty plea, Sordilla agreed to forfeit $2,725,951 in proceeds from the offense.  Sordilla will also be subject to an order of restitution to the victims of the offense in the amount of at least $48,719,156.38.

“The defendants didn’t just steal money — they stole dreams, leaving victims with empty promises and devastating losses,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.  “Today’s guilty plea delivers justice for victims and serves as a warning that legitimate publishers and filmmakers do not demand upfront fees.”

“Michael Sordilla and his co-conspirators callously preyed on the hopes and dreams of authors to have their stories come to life, costing hundreds of victims more than $48 million in losses,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Today’s guilty plea is the beginning of holding all those involved in this Hollywood dream scheme accountable for their crimes. FBI San Diego, along with our law enforcement partners, remains steadfast in our pursuit of justice of any scammers attempting to steal Americans’ hard-earned money.”

“The defendant knowingly used the mail to execute a fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims for financial gain,” said Matt Shields, Inspector in Charge of the Los Angeles Division.  “This guilty plea represents a significant step in holding the defendant accountable and seeking justice for all of those impacted.”

If you or someone you know is aged 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available through the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). You can also report fraud to any local law enforcement agency or on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

As of today, three of the four defendants charged in the case are awaiting trial. Law enforcement previously seized the PageTurner domain and over $6 million from bank accounts linked to PageTurner and WP Lighthouse.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Oleksandra “Sasha” Johnson.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 24CR2712-JLS

Gemma Traya Austin                                     Age: 60                                  Chula Vista, CA

In custody.  Arrested in Chula Vista on December 12, 2024

Michael Cris Traya Sordilla                           Age: 34                                   Philippines

In custody.  Sentencing set for July 24, 2026

Bryan Navales Tarosa                                    Age: 35                                    Philippines                                                                 

In custody.  Arrested in San Diego on December 9, 2024

Micheal Glenn Austin                                    Age: 35                                  Chula Vista, CA

Released on bond

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349

Maximum Penalties: Twenty years in prison; $250,000 fine

Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum Penalties: Twenty years in prison; maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the amount laundered

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

United States Postal Inspection Service

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 109 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On April 24, Brandon Ramos Bonilla, a Mexican citizen and border crosser card holder, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 61 pounds of cocaine concealed in the roof and firewall of the defendant’s vehicle as he tried to cross the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On April 25, Francisco Ramon Garcia and Antonio Ramos, citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendants were captains of a smuggling boat that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard off Point Loma with five undocumented Mexican nationals on board. Also arrested was Oscar Orozco Avilar, who was charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
• On April 28, Fernando Vega-Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Vega-Sanchez was arrested by Customs and Border Protection officers at the pedestrian lanes of the San Ysidro Port of Entry after he claimed to be someone else but had no documents. Officers learned his true identity and he was taken into custody. The defendant was previously removed from the U.S. seven times.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Samuel Melvin Cooper of El Cajon was sentenced in federal court today to 121 months in prison for directing a 15-year-old girl to perform commercial sex acts for his financial benefit in San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson.

Cooper pleaded guilty on October 14, 2025, to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking through Force, Fraud or Coercion. According to his plea agreement, Cooper was arrested in September 2024 by San Diego Police detectives during a traffic stop in an area known for street-based prostitution. Police discovered Cooper was tracking locations of two female teens, ages 15 and 18, on a cell phone application – a common method used by pimps to track the location of commercial sex victims under their control.

The case was further investigated by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. The investigation revealed that Cooper had traveled by car with the 15-year-old to Arizona for the purpose of commercial sex work for Cooper’s financial benefit. Text messages revealed that Cooper intended to leave the 15-year-old victim stranded in Arizona if she did not make enough money through commercial sex work.

According to his plea agreement, Cooper admitted he also exploited another 15-year-old girl by directing her to engage in commercial sex for Cooper’s financial benefit. Sexually explicit videos and photographs of Cooper engaged in sexually explicit conduct with this second minor were recovered.  Cooper was aware of the minor’s age as her date of birth, including the year, was Cooper’s unlock code for his cell phone.

“We won’t allow children to be bought and sold,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This sentence reflects the profound harm caused when predators exploit minors for profit.”

“Let this sentence stand as a clear and stern warning; there is no refuge for those who exploit or abuse children. I am proud of our Human Trafficking Task Force that investigated this case to ensure that Cooper would be held fully accountable,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Although nothing can undo the pain the victim has endured, we hope this sentence offers a measure of closure and a sense that justice has been served. My office will continue to pursue justice relentlessly, support survivors every step of the way, and diligently investigate these crimes. Above all, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protect the children of California and ensure they can grow up safe, supported, and free from harm.”

In the government’s sentencing memo, prosecutors noted that when San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force officers tried to interview the first 15-year-old victim after the defendant’s arrest, she was crying hysterically, denied any involvement in prostitution and refused to cooperate with the investigation. The victim’s mother has written a victim-impact statement to the court about how the girl is still a runaway and lost to her and her family. “That letter speaks more powerfully to the lasting trauma of living on the streets and being conditioned at such a young age that your worth is tied to commercial sex than any attorney can capture in words,” the government’s memo said.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Ko and Lyndzie M. Carter.

If you believe you or someone you know has been a victim of human trafficking, investigators ask that you contact the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 24cr2623-JO                        

Samuel Melvin Cooper                                   Age: 21                                   El Cajon, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force/Coercion, 18 U.S.C., Section 1594(c)

Maximum penalty: Life imprisonment; $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force

San Diego Police Department

Homeland Security Investigations

The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a cooperative effort involving the California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, National City Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Probation Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

This case is the result of the ongoing efforts of the Special Victims Unit.  Formed in April 2025, the SVU is tasked with leading collaborations between federal and local law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving sex trafficking and child exploitation, civil rights, and labor trafficking. The SVU oversees the Southern District of California liaisons to the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and Project Safe Childhood

SAN DIEGO – Unprecedented cooperation between the FBI, Dubai Police Department, and Chinese Ministry of Public Security has resulted in the arrest of at least 276 individuals and the dismantlement of at least nine scam centers used for cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. These centers targeted Americans who have suffered millions of dollars in losses from such schemes.

This international crackdown last week was spearheaded by the Dubai Police, under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior. Among the 275 arrested by Dubai authorities were three defendants charged in the Southern District of California with federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. An additional person was arrested by the Royal Thai Police.

Thet Min Nyi (27, a Burmese national), Wiliang Awang (23, an Indonesian national), Andreas Chandra (29, an Indonesia national), Lisa Mariam (29, an Indonesian national), and two fugitive co-conspirators have been charged with federal fraud and money laundering charges unsealed in San Diego today. Dubai Police apprehended Thet Min Nyi, Chandra, and Mariam, while the Royal Thai Police apprehended Awang.

“These scammers thought they were safe half a world away. But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California.

“Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The charges and arrests announced today reflect an international consensus that scam centers are unwelcome everywhere and must be rooted out. Scam center organizers and fraudsters who defraud Americans and others will face justice in American courts and in courts around the world. In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well.” 

“This operation demonstrates the FBI's steadfast commitment to preventing scammers from further defrauding the American people,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “We can't do this work alone, and we are proud to coordinate and collaborate with our partners to hold accountable those who work to enable and facilitate these scams.”

“Today’s indictment demonstrates the FBI’s determination to identify, disrupt, and dismantle these global scam centers defrauding Americans no matter where they set up shop,” said Mark Remily, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “FBI San Diego will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners to protect victims from cryptocurrency fraud, stop losses before they happen, and recover victim funds where we can.”

In 2025, FBI San Diego agents opened a Homeland Security Task Force investigation after identifying multiple companies and individuals managing scam compounds conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. According to the indictment, two criminal complaints, and other court records, the defendants charged in San Diego managed, worked for, and recruited others to work at three different “companies” that operated several alleged scam centers: “Ko Thet Company,” “Sanduo Group,” and “Giant Company.” All six defendants allegedly engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes through “pig-butchering,” which is a type of fraud where scammers gain a victim’s trust over time – through friendship or romance – before persuading them to send money to fake investments which the scammers then take. Scammers entice victims with phony friendship or romance before financially exploiting them.

The defendants targeted citizens of the United States and other countries by cultivating trust and affection with the victims, based on the charging documents and court filings. After that, the scammers promoted investments in cryptocurrencies and assisted victims in setting up accounts and transferring cryptocurrency to investment platforms that, unbeknownst to the victims, were false. The alleged scammers touted their own successes and returns in cryptocurrency investments and encouraged their victims to invest more. They also encouraged their victims to borrow money from friends and family and take out loans, to be able to “invest” more. Unbeknownst to the victims, once they made transfers to the platforms the alleged scammers suggested, they lost control of their cryptocurrency. Fake platforms put the victims’ funds in the hands of the scammers, who then laundered the victims’ funds to other cryptocurrency accounts, including their own.

FBI agents have identified numerous victims around the United States through complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Agents interviewed victims and analyzed financial and cryptocurrency records. So far, investigators have identified millions of dollars in losses caused by these cryptocurrency investment schemes operating across jurisdictions. 

Thet Min Nyi, an alleged manager and recruiter for the Ko Thet Company, also called “Pixy,” managed scam compounds. In March 2026, a grand jury in the Southern District of California returned an indictment against Thet Min Nyi and a fugitive co-defendant charging them with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, along with criminal forfeiture allegations.

Further, in April 2026, two criminal complaints in the Southern District of California charged Awang, Chandra, their fugitive co-defendant, and Mariam with wire fraud conspiracy. These charges were based on cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes from two other alleged scam organizations, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.

The Dubai Police Department, under the UAE Ministry of Interior, significantly disrupted the scam operations through their parallel investigation. The Dubai Police continue to collaborate closely with international law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle transnational criminal networks, as part of Dubai’s commitment to combating financial crime and protecting victims worldwide.

Thailand’s Royal Thai Police’s (RTP) Immigration Bureau, Foreign Affairs, and Anti Cyber Scam Center provided significant assistance. Through RTP’s efforts, a key subject and defendant in this investigation, Awang, was apprehended in Thailand.

Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, provided critical information for this investigation. U.S. authorities appreciate Meta’s assistance in this matter.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Horn for the Southern District of California and Trial Attorneys Stefanie Schwartz and William Gullotta of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.

FBI San Diego has investigated a number of other sophisticated cryptocurrency investment frauds. For example, Operation Level Up—which began in 2024 as a San Diego and Phoenix joint initiative—has proactively identified and notified victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. As of April 2026, the FBI notified almost 9,000 victims and saved victims an estimated $562 million. FBI-San Diego is also investigating the Tai Chang Scam Enterprise, a series of scam compounds located in Burma’s Karen State also conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes against Americans.

If you have been defrauded out of your money by this type of scheme, please contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. 

DEFENDANTS

Case Number 26CR762-RSH

Thet Min Nyi

aka “Ko Thet,” aka “Ko”                          Age: 27                                    Burma

*Fugitive                                                    Age: 27                                    Indonesia

Case Number 26MJ2335-AHG

Wiliang Awang                                         Age: 23                                    Indonesia

aka “Wiliang Ng,” aka “Wiliang Huang,” aka “Huang Wiliang,”

aka “Lincon,” aka “Lincoln”

Andreas Chandra                                       Age: 29                                     Indonesia

aka “Andreas Chandra Kho,” aka “Jay”

*Fugitive                                                     Age: 22                                     Indonesia

Case Number 26MJ2437-AHG

Lisa Mariam                                              Age: 29                                      Indonesia

aka “Melissa Chloe,” aka “Cipul,” aka “Naomi May Lingston,”

aka “Vanessa,” aka “Bella Theresia”

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire fraud conspiracy (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1343)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of the gain or loss

Money laundering conspiracy (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(h), 1956(a)(2)(A), 1956(a)(2)(B)(i))

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison; fine of $500,000 or twice the amount of the gain or loss

U.S. AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Secret Service

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

On March 6, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the Executive Order, President Trump is directing every available tool be used to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud.

Unprecedented cooperation between the FBI, Dubai Police Department, and Chinese Ministry of Public Security has resulted in the arrest of at least 276 individuals and the dismantlement of at least nine scam centers used for cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. These centers targeted Americans who have suffered millions of dollars in losses from such schemes.

This international crackdown last week was spearheaded by the Dubai Police, under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior. Among the 275 arrested by Dubai authorities were three defendants charged in the Southern District of California with federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. An additional person was arrested by the Royal Thai Police.

Thet Min Nyi (27, a Burmese national), Wiliang Awang (23, an Indonesian national), Andreas Chandra (29, an Indonesia national), Lisa Mariam (29, an Indonesian national), and two fugitive co-conspirators have been charged with federal fraud and money laundering charges unsealed in San Diego today. Dubai Police apprehended Thet Min Nyi, Chandra, and Mariam, while the Royal Thai Police apprehended Awang.

“Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The charges and arrests announced today reflect an international consensus that scam centers are unwelcome everywhere and must be rooted out. Scam center organizers and fraudsters who defraud Americans and others will face justice in American courts and in courts around the world. In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well.”

“These scammers thought they were safe half a world away,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice.”

“This operation demonstrates the FBI's steadfast commitment to preventing scammers from further defrauding the American people,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “We can't do this work alone, and we are proud to coordinate and collaborate with our partners to hold accountable those who work to enable and facilitate these scams.”

“Today’s indictment demonstrates the FBI’s determination to identify, disrupt, and dismantle these global scam centers defrauding Americans no matter where they set up shop,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “FBI San Diego will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners to protect victims from cryptocurrency fraud, stop losses before they happen, and recover victim funds where we can.”

In 2025, FBI San Diego agents opened a Homeland Security Task Force investigation after identifying multiple companies and individuals managing scam compounds conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. According to the indictment, two criminal complaints, and other court records, the defendants charged in San Diego managed, worked for, and recruited others to work at three different “companies” that operated several alleged scam centers: “Ko Thet Company,” “Sanduo Group,” and “Giant Company.” All six defendants allegedly engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes through “pig-butchering,” which is a type of fraud where scammers gain a victim’s trust over time — through friendship or romance — before persuading them to send money to fake investments which the scammers then take. Scammers entice victims with phony friendship or romance before financially exploiting them.

The defendants targeted citizens of the United States and other countries by cultivating trust and affection with the victims, based on the charging documents and court filings. After that, the scammers promoted investments in cryptocurrencies and assisted victims in setting up accounts and transferring cryptocurrency to investment platforms that, unbeknownst to the victims, were false. The alleged scammers touted their own successes and returns in cryptocurrency investments and encouraged their victims to invest more. They also encouraged their victims to borrow money from friends and family and take out loans, to be able to “invest” more. Unbeknownst to the victims, once they made transfers to the platforms the alleged scammers suggested, they lost control of their cryptocurrency. Fake platforms put the victims’ funds in the hands of the scammers, who then laundered the victims’ funds to other cryptocurrency accounts, including their own.

FBI agents have identified numerous victims around the United States through complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Agents interviewed victims and analyzed financial and cryptocurrency records. So far, investigators have identified millions of dollars in losses caused by these cryptocurrency investment schemes operating across jurisdictions. 

Thet Min Nyi, an alleged manager and recruiter for the Ko Thet Company, also called “Pixy,” managed scam compounds. In March 2026, a grand jury in the Southern District of California returned an indictment against Thet Min Nyi and a fugitive co-defendant charging them with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, along with criminal forfeiture allegations.

Further, in April 2026, two criminal complaints in the Southern District of California charged Awang, Chandra, their fugitive co-defendant, and Mariam with wire fraud conspiracy. These charges were based on cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes from two other alleged scam organizations, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.

The Dubai Police Department, under the UAE Ministry of Interior, significantly disrupted the scam operations through their parallel investigation. The Dubai Police continue to collaborate closely with international law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle transnational criminal networks, as part of Dubai’s commitment to combating financial crime and protecting victims worldwide.

Thailand’s Royal Thai Police’s (RTP) Immigration Bureau, Foreign Affairs, and Anti Cyber Scam Center provided significant assistance. Through RTP’s efforts, a key subject and defendant in this investigation, Awang, was apprehended in Thailand.

Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, provided critical information for this investigation. U.S. authorities appreciate Meta’s assistance in this matter.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Horn for the Southern District of California and Trial Attorneys Stefanie Schwartz and William Gullotta of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.

FBI San Diego has investigated a number of other sophisticated cryptocurrency investment frauds. For example, Operation Level Up —which began in 2024 as a San Diego and Phoenix joint initiative — has proactively identified and notified victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. As of April 2026, the FBI notified almost 9,000 victims and saved victims an estimated $562 million. FBI-San Diego is also investigating the Tai Chang Scam Enterprise, a series of scam compounds located in Burma’s Karen State also conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes against Americans.

If you have been defrauded out of your money by this type of scheme, please contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. 

DEFENDANTS

Case Number 26CR762-RSH

Thet Min Nyi

also known as Ko Thet, also known as Ko  Age: 27                                    Burma

*Fugitive                                                    Age: 27                                    Indonesia

Case Number 26MJ2335-AHG

Wiliang Awang                                         Age: 23                                    Indonesia

also known as Wiliang Ng, also known as Wiliang Huang, also known as Huang Wiliang,

also known as Lincon, also known as Lincoln

Andreas Chandra                                       Age: 29                                     Indonesia

also known as Andreas Chandra Kho, also known as Jay

*Fugitive                                                     Age: 22                                     Indonesia

Case Number 26MJ2437-AHG

Lisa Mariam                                              Age: 29                                      Indonesia

also known as Melissa Chloe, also known as Cipul, also known as Naomi May Lingston,

also known as Vanessa, also known as Bella Theresia

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire fraud conspiracy (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 1343)

Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of the gain or loss

Money laundering conspiracy (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(h), 1956(a)(2)(A), 1956(a)(2)(B)(i))

Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison; fine of $500,000 or twice the amount of the gain or loss

U.S. AGENCIES

FBI

U.S. Secret Service

IRS Criminal Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

On March 6, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the Executive Order, President Trump is directing every available tool be used to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud.

SAN DIEGO – Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez, a citizen of Mexico who is unlawfully present in the U.S., pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he impersonated a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in order to disrupt deportation missions.

During an incident on January 8, 2026, Alvarez-Gonzalez closely followed an actual Border Patrol agent while driving a black Ford F-150 truck that appeared to be an undercover Border Patrol vehicle. The truck had a Border Patrol sticker on the windshield, non-functioning radio communications antennae on the roof, a lightbar on the dashboard, a license plate frame displaying the words “Ferderal Truck” [sic.], and handcuffs hanging from the rear-view mirror.

The defendant wore a face mask and thin green line baseball cap, typically worn by Border Patrol supporters, and made a recording in which he said he was actively looking for federal law enforcement involved in deportation missions by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to a federal complaint, the actual agent who was being followed by Alvarez-Gonzalez believed the F-150 was being used by a legitimate federal law enforcement officer and he felt compelled to divert from his mission to “deconflict” for safety reasons. Generally speaking, law enforcement deconfliction is a process to prevent conflicts between different agencies or officers by sharing information about planned operations, such as surveillance or execution of warrants, to avoid having multiple officers/agents from different agencies working simultaneously in the same area. This is done to ensure officer safety, to prevent compromising investigations, to avoid confusion, and to promote public safety. Deconfliction is important to avoid a potentially dangerous situation where an officer or agency may misidentify another law enforcement officer as an armed perpetrator.

Alvarez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating a federal agent and three counts of illegally possessing firearms.  Alvarez-Gonzalez overstayed his tourist visa decades ago and has no lawful status in the United States. 

According to the complaint and the government’s statements in court, when confronted by agents, Alvarez-Gonzalez shouted obscenities and demanded agents leave the community of Linda Vista. At some point, three additional vehicles drove to the agents’ location and began harassing the departing agents, chasing agents on the highway.

Alvarez-Gonzalez narrated this entire interaction on video and claimed to have brought in his “reinforcements.”  On January 14, 2026, ICE-ERO arrested Alvarez-Gonzalez for his illegal status in the United States. Alvarez-Gonzalez had an FBI badge.

After further investigation, the government connected Alvarez-Gonzalez to three firearms illegally possessed by him: a Glock 26 9mm pistol, an Aero Precision Model X15 Multi-Caliber AR-style rifle, and an Interarms Hellpup 7.62x39 AK-style pistol.  The government also seized ammunition from his place of business.  Evidence showed that Alvarez-Gonzalez traveled to the Southern District of Texas to unlawfully possess firearms at a gun range in Houston.  Alvarez-Gonzalez is unlawfully in the United States and legally could not possess those firearms or ammunition.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Siddharth Dadhich. .

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 26-cr-00911-RBM                            

Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez                   Age: 53                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

False Personation of a Federal Officer – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 912

Maximum penalty: Three years in prison and $250,000 fine

Knowing Possession of a Firearm by an Illegal Alien Title 18, U.S.C., Section 922(g)(5)(A) and 924(a)(8)

Maximum penalty: Fifteen years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Removal Operations

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Customs and Border Protection

Federal Bureau of Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Alleged Guatemalan drug kingpin Eugenio Dario Molina-Lopez, aka “Don Dario,” who is accused of being the leader of a transnational criminal organization known as Los Huistas, has been arrested in San Diego. Molina-Lopez made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday, April 24, 2026.

Los Huistas is a drug trafficking organization primarily based in the Huehuetenango region of Northwest Guatemala that borders Mexico and is engaged in a massive cocaine trafficking operation. Molina-Lopez was charged as part of Operation Guerrilla Unit, a multi-year investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), HSI Attaché Guatemala City, Guatemala, and the United States Attorney’s Office in San Diego. The investigation targeted Molina-Lopez, the Los Huistas organization, and its suppliers. High-level cocaine traffickers were targeted in a massive probe involving multiple countries, multiple law enforcement agencies around the United States, and a number of federal districts.

The indictment returned on January 29, 2019, charges Molina-Lopez with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine Intended for Unlawful Importation and Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine on Board a Vessel. 

In March 2022, the U.S. Department of State announced that it was offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Molina-Lopez. This award was offered under the U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP). More than 75 transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under the NRP and the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) since 1986.  The Department has paid more than $135 million in rewards to date. The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs manages the NRP in close coordination with Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other U.S. government agencies.

Simultaneously in March 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also designated the Los Huistas Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) and Eugenio Dario Molina-Lopez pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for drug trafficking that threatens the people and security of the United States and Guatemala.

“Cartel leaders don’t get to write the end of their stories. We do,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “And once again, the final chapter for a man alleged to be one of the world’s most notorious and prolific cocaine traffickers is here in the Southern District of California.”

“This operation demonstrates the effectiveness of the Homeland Security Task Force and our partnerships with agencies across the United States and Guatemala,” said Kevin Murphy, acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, San Diego. “HSI and our law enforcement partners were able to dismantle a major transnational criminal organization responsible for trafficking massive quantities of cocaine and threatening the security of both nations. This operation underscores the importance of a whole-of-government approach and the relentless commitment of HSI and our partners to protect our communities and uphold the rule of law.”

At Friday’s hearing, the defendant entered a not guilty plea. A motion hearing/trial setting is scheduled for May 11, 2026, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

DEFENDANT                                     Case Number 19-cr-0327-DMS                             

Eugenio Dario Molina-Lopez               61                    Huehuetenango, Guatemala

aka “Don Dario,” aka “Molis”

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 959, 960, 963
Criminal Forfeiture – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 853

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine on Board a Vessel – Title 46, U.S.C., Section 70503(b), 70506

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)

HSI Attaché Guatemala City, Guatemala

HSI Attaché Mexico City Mexico

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

U.S. Coast Guard

Drug Enforcement Administration

Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs

Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations

Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S)

U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

U.S. Department of State

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO –A federal judge has ruled in favor of the United States in a civil lawsuit brought by the estate of a human smuggler fatally shot during a smuggling incident, rejecting allegations that Border Patrol agents used excessive force.

The plaintiffs included the son of deceased smuggler Silvestre Estrada, as well as two individuals who were being smuggled, Francisco Madariaga and Jaime Madariaga-Gonzalez. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia ruled that the Border Patrol agents’ use of force was reasonable and that deadly force was justified when Estrada drove toward them in a threatening manner, leading the agents to reasonably fear for their safety. The court also found that less-than-lethal alternatives were not viable given the rapidly evolving situation.

The allegations stemmed from the shooting death of Estrada on May 14, 2021. That evening, at approximately 10:13 p.m., Border Patrol agents using surveillance technology observed Estrada as he picked up the cousins on the shoulder of State Route 94.

The Madariagas, who are cousins, were both undocumented aliens with Mexican citizenship and no legal right to enter or remain in the United States.  The Madariagas had crossed the United States/Mexico border days before. Agents using fully marked Border Patrol vehicles found Estrada’s vehicle, and engaged Estrada by activating their service vehicle lights and sirens. Initially, Estrada pulled over and yielded to the agents.

However, as agents approached Estrada’s vehicle, Estrada sped off, and a high-speed pursuit began. The length of pursuit was approximately four miles and lasted approximately six minutes.  During the pursuit, Estrada swerved in and out of the eastbound and westbound lanes of State Route 94, and at times was driving over 80 miles per hour. At trial, the Madariagas testified that, during the pursuit, they were both frightened and believed they might get into an accident.

Ultimately, Estrada’s vehicle entered a Circle K gas station from State Route 94. Several Border Patrol vehicles were pursuing Estrada at that time. Some continued the pursuit by following Estrada into the Circle K, while others surrounded the gas station and remained outside on State Route 94.  Estrada sped through the Circle K property apparently looking for an exit. Estrada attempted to reach the property’s entrance/exit to escape the property but was blocked by a high curb that Estrada crashed his vehicle into. The right front end of the vehicle sustained significant damage. Unable to proceed further, Estrada backed up to a point where he was blocked in by a Border Patrol vehicle. Estrada stopped the vehicle for four seconds.

As stated by Judge Battaglia in his written ruling, “[w]hile the vehicle was stopped, Agents approached the vehicle because almost everyone—including the Madariagas—believed the vehicle chase was over . . . . Although everyone else believed the vehicle chase was over, Estrada apparently thought otherwise.”  After briefly stopping, and as a Border Patrol agent approached, Estrada revved the vehicle and then accelerated forward in the direction of the approaching agent, getting within a few feet of the agent in 1.6 seconds.

Two agents, who assessed the situation as creating imminent danger of serious injury or death to the agent in front of Estada’s vehicle, fired upon Estrada’s vehicle.  Almost immediately after shots were fired, Estrada’s vehicle turned back towards State Route 94, in the direction of another agent, who also assessed the same risk and danger to himself and also fired one shot towards Estrada.  Estrada was struck and killed by one of the bullets.  The Madariagas were not struck by any of the gunshots.

In his ruling, Judge Battaglia wrote about one agent: “One cannot expect (the agent) to have gambled with his own life by speculating on Estrada’s intent or planned trajectory and hopefully jumping away. Clearly, Estrada gambled with his own life.”

The judge wrote that another agent involved in the shooting “had little choice or option once Estrada revved up and then accelerated the vehicle in his direction.”

“The Court’s ruling confirms that these Border Patrol agents acted lawfully and appropriately under dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Federal agents are authorized to use reasonable force to protect themselves and others while carrying out their mission to secure our borders.”

“The safety of our agents is paramount, and any act of violence directed at them will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker, “The court’s decision affirms our agents’ authority to act in defense of themselves and the public when faced with imminent threats.”

This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glen Dorgan, Lisa Hemann and Shital Thakkar.

PLAINTIFFS                                                                Case Number 22-cv-00373-AJB-BJW

Silvestre Estrada a minor, by and through is proposed guardian ad litem Emily Prieto

Francisco Madariaga

Jaime Madariaga-Gonzalez

DEFENDANT                                                                      

United States of America

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”):

• Wrongful Use of Deadly Force
• Assault/Battery of Francisco Madariaga and Jaime Madariaga-Gonzalez
• Negligent Use of Force

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 134 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On April 18, Ebelia Lopez Orozco, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 161 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the cargo area storage compartment of her Kia Sorrento at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On April 20, Santos Andres Torres-Hernandez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered two unauthorized aliens concealed inside the roof storage compartment of the defendant’s convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse as he applied for entry at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On April 22, Javier Torres-Alvares, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Torres-Alvares was intercepted by Border Patrol agents north of the border, east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Torres-Alvares was previously deported to Mexico in 2018.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Neery Velazquez admitted in federal court today that while he was a healthcare worker at U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facilities in San Diego County, he submitted almost $250,000 in false travel claims for reimbursement.

Velazquez, who worked for a government contractor, pleaded guilty to a single count of False Claim. He is scheduled to be sentenced before District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo on July 14, 2026.

Contractor employees are eligible to request reimbursement of their lodging, meal and incidental expenses when they are on “Temporary Duty” (TDY) travel more than 50 miles from the employee’s permanent home.

The defendant was hired in January 2020 to work as a “traveler” performing contracted services for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) away from his permanent home in Las Vegas. In 2021, however, the defendant moved his permanent home to San Diego, making him ineligible for reimbursement for travel expenses.

According to his plea agreement, between 2021 and 2024, Velazquez submitted approximately 35 monthly travel claims to his employer and falsely attested that he was entitled to reimbursement of his lodging, meal, and incidental expenses because he was on TDY travel.

Velazquez also admitted he submitted forged documents to inflate and support his purported monthly expenses. This included a forged month-to-month lease agreement with a fake landlord, along with a forged rental receipt signed by the fake landlord, to make it appear as if he was paying thousands of dollars more for rent of a supposed temporary home each month than he was actually paying for his permanent residence.

In total, Velazquez submitted approximately $244,019.48 in false travel claims for reimbursement. CBP reimbursed approximately $181,082.85 of that amount before it discovered discrepancies in the submitted travel claims. 

This case stemmed from an investigation led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General and Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, with assistance from CBP’s Office of Finance, Investment Analysis Office. The investigation revealed that nearly a third of the contractor’s 100 employees on TDY status in the San Diego area were committing some form of travel benefits fraud. Investigators determined that such employees had submitted more than $1.59 million in false travel claims to their employer for reimbursement, which CBP later reimbursed. CBP offset the loss by withholding funds payable to the contractor based on findings of false claims.

The investigation and subsequent scrutiny also resulted in a reduction in travel claims submitted by the contractor to CBP. Notably, the submitted claims decreased from an average of $3.9 million per month in calendar year 2023 to $3.1 million per month in calendar year 2024, resulting in a cost avoidance of approximately $9.6 million.

“Every dollar stolen through fraudulent travel claims is a dollar taken directly from the pockets of hardworking taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We stand committed to preserving a government that stewards the public’s money wisely and protects it from wrongdoers.”

“This guilty plea sends a strong message that those who attempt to defraud the government and American taxpayer will be identified and held accountable for their actions,” said Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “We appreciate the coordination with our law enforcement partners in their actions to exact justice for these crimes.”

“This plea agreement highlights CBP OPR’s ongoing commitment to accountability and integrity, said Jeffrey Egerton, Acting Executive Director of the Investigative Operations Directorate, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility. “Today’s resolution reaffirms our duty to protect taxpayers and ensure those who misuse government funds are held accountable.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick C. Swan.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 26-cr-1544-CAB       

Neery Velazquez                     Age: 31                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

False Claim – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 287

Aiding and Abetting, Title 18, U.S.C. Section 2

Maximum penalties: Five years in prison and fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General

Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility

Customs and Border Protection, Office of Finance

SAN DIEGO – Brothers Eduardo and Francisco Mendoza were sentenced in federal court to 15 years and 10 years in prison, respectively, for leading a fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution network supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel.

Eduardo Mendoza was sentenced today; Francisco Mendoza was sentenced April 17.

According to public documents, the brothers and other members of their organization were identified through a long-term wiretap investigation. As the investigation unfolded, agents identified the Mendoza Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), which operated in the Imperial County and trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Investigators learned that the Mendoza DTO was supplied by a Sinaloa Cartel-linked source of fentanyl supply in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. The Mendoza DTO obtained drugs from Mexico and then distributed the drugs throughout the Imperial Valley and elsewhere, including as far as New York.

Eduardo Mendoza was the lead defendant charged in a 12-defendant indictment with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. In 2024, agents conducted a multi-district takedown, which led to Eduardo Mendoza’s arrest in Oregon and Francisco Mendoza’s arrest in the Imperial Valley, California.

In his plea agreement, Eduardo Mendoza admitted that he participated in the conspiracy between at least 2020 through his arrest in June 2024. Through the multi-year investigation, agents repeatedly seized methamphetamine and fentanyl that was being distributed by the organization, including some of the seizures highlighted below.

“Imperial Valley. New York. Las Vegas. Oregon,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, “This was a sprawling investigation into prolific drug traffickers. But we wiretapped their phones, seized their drugs, and brought them to justice.”

“The sentencing of Eduardo and Francisco Mendoza marks a significant victory in our ongoing fight against transnational criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our communities,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Murphy, HSI San Diego. “This case demonstrates the dedication and collaboration of law enforcement partners to dismantle drug trafficking networks responsible for distributing dangerous substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine. HSI remains committed to pursuing those who endanger lives through the illicit drug trade and to protecting our communities from the devastating impact of narcotics.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shivanjali Sewak and Kevin Mokhtari.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 24-cr-0504-CAB                               

Eduardo Mendoza, AKA “Casper”                 33                    Niland, CA

Francisco Javier Mendoza, AKA “Pancho”    35                    Niland, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fentanyl (21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846)

Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a $10 million fine. 

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Drug Enforcement Administration

Department of Justice, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces

Department of Justice Office of Enforcement Operations

U.S. Border Patrol

U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations

U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Air and Marine Operations

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

California Highway Patrol

Brawley Police Department

El Centro Police Department

Calexico Police Department

Imperial County Sheriff’s Office

Imperial County District Attorney’s Office

Imperial County Probation Department

Imperial Police Department

Westmorland Police Department

Calipatria Police Department

Imperial Valley - Law Enforcement Coordination Center

Imperial County Child Protective Services

San Diego County Sheriff’s Office

U.S. Marshals Service

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 143 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On April 12, Ramon Ramirez Jr., a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 317 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the rear bed of the defendant’s vehicle’s  as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On April 13, Gabriel Soto-Baez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Ortiz was intercepted by Border Patrol officers lying on the ground in an attempt to conceal himself near the Tecate Port of Entry. The defendant was previously removed from the U.S. in January 2026 through Nogales, Arizona.
• On April 14, Zelin Chen, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers determined that Chen’s passenger presented false immigration documents when they applied for entry to the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The passenger was a Chinese national without legal status to enter the U.S. who had made arrangements to pay $18,000 to be smuggled into the U.S.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Jorge Campos-Oliva, aka “Peluda,” an extradited Guatemalan national, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison on charges of international cocaine distribution conspiracy.  

According to public documents, Campos-Oliva was identified as part of a multi-year proactive wiretap investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations targeting high-level cocaine traffickers operating in northwest Guatemala and their suppliers.  The investigation offered one of the most comprehensive views of the inner workings of cocaine trafficking in Guatemala, which sits between South American cocaine producers and Mexico-based drug cartels.

In public documents, Jorge Campos-Oliva admitted that he participated in the distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine between at least 2017 and 2020 through a drug trafficking organization based in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The cocaine Jorge Campos-Oliva distributed was then further distributed to drug trafficking organizations in Huehuetenango, Guatemala or South Mexico and ultimately to the United States.  During the wiretap, agents intercepted thousands of messages, including numerous photos of cocaine bricks, such as the ones shown below. Indeed, Campos-Oliva admitted to distributing at least 2,000 kilograms of cocaine during his participation in the conspiracy.

In July 2020, Campos-Oliva was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine intended for unlawful importation into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 959, 960 and 963. He was arrested on August 31, 2021 in Guatemala pursuant to an extradition request from the United States. On February 10, 2022, he was extradited to the United States. One month after he was extradited from Guatemala, on March 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued treasury sanctions against the Los Huistas Drug Trafficking Organization (“DTO”) and some of its leaders. Based on extensive wiretap intercepts, Jorge Campos-Oliva distributed cocaine to Augusto Jean Carlo Castillo-Hernandez (charged in 20CR2242-DMS), who in turn offered that cocaine to a leader in Los Huistas.

“The Department of Justice will aggressively pursue high-level drug traffickers who earmark multi-ton quantities of cocaine for the United States,” said U.S.  Attorney Adam Gordon. “Today’s sentence demonstrates the seriousness of the offense.” 

“This significant sentencing demonstrates HSI’s commitment to investigating and dismantling transnational criminal organizations around the world,” said Kevin Murphy, acting Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Diego. “This HSTF investigation disrupted the organization’s ability to transport ton quantities of cocaine into the United States and safeguarded our communities.”

In sentencing Campos-Oliva today, U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw found that Campos-Oliva was an organizer/leader in the conspiracy, which involved extensive “coordination” in a “multi-ton” cocaine trafficking conspiracy that defendant operated with his brother.  Sentencing for the brother, Fabio Campos-Oliva, aka “Black Chivita,” who was separately charged in a related indictment, is scheduled for May 1, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Sabraw.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

DEFENDANTS                                           

Case Number 20cr2241-DMS

Jorge Campos-Oliva                                        Age: 48                                    Guatemala      aka “Peluda,” aka “Papa,” aka “Magico”

Case Number 20cr2240-DMS

Fabio Campos-Oliva                                       Age: 50                                    Guatemala      aka “Black Chivita”

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 959, 960, 963
Criminal Forfeiture – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 853

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

U.S. Coast Guard

HSI Attaché Guatemala City, Guatemala

HSI Attaché Mexico City Mexico

Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs

Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations

Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)

Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S)

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty

SAN DIEGO – Former teacher Jeanett Valenzuela Ayub pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that she conspired with others to launder millions of dollars of health care fraud proceeds.

In total, Valenzuela admitted that she and her co-conspirators billed Medicare nearly $51 million for bogus prescriptions and were paid approximately $20 million, ultimately laundering at least $14 million dollars of Medicare proceeds and paying $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs

According to her plea agreement, Valenzuela and co-conspirators owned and operated multiple durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which sold orthotics – including back, wrist, and knee braces – to Medicare beneficiaries.

Valenzuela admitted that in operating the DME companies, she and co-conspirators paid unlawful kickback payments to sham marketing companies who provided bogus prescriptions for DME. The prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate doctor-patient relationship with the beneficiary; had not conducted a legitimate medical evaluation of the beneficiary; and had not impartially determined that the beneficiary actually needed the DME. 

When agents interviewed Medicare beneficiaries during its investigation, the Medicare beneficiaries confirmed that they never spoke with a doctor, were never examined by a doctor related to the prescribed DME, and were not familiar with the prescribing doctor; never used nor even opened the packages containing the DME; and many of the Medicare beneficiaries still had the DME in their original unopened packages. 

Valenzuela further admitted that she used DME companies to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare. Once Valenzuela’s or her co-conspirator’s DME companies were suspended from billing Medicare, Valenzuela conspired to put DME companies in the names of nominee owners while she and her co-conspirators maintained control of the companies and the monies received from Medicare.

Among Valenzuela’s co-conspirators was her brother, Fernando Valenzuela Ayub, who previously pleaded guilty to the same offense and is pending sentencing. When her brother was arrested on December 9, 2024, for his involvement in this conspiracy, Valenzuela absconded to Tijuana. Ultimately, Valenzuela was detained in August 2025 in the Dominican Republic after she left Mexico and traveled with family for a vacation. 

After being detained in the Dominican Republic, Valenzuela was removed to the United States through Miami, Florida, where she was then arrested by U.S. Marshals and ultimately transported to San Diego to face the pending charges against her.

Valenzuela is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, 2026, at 9 a.m.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero of the Southern District of California.  Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Valerie Chu contributed significantly to the case.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24cr2489-DMS                                 

Jeanett Valenzuela Ayub                                Age: 51                                   Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Money Laundering Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)

The Justice Department today announced the sentencings of two U.S. nationals, Kejia Wang, 42, and Zhenxing Wang, 39, for their roles in facilitating North Korean remote information technology (IT) workers posing as U.S. residents to obtain work at more than 100 U.S. companies. The multi-year scheme used the stolen identities of at least 80 U.S. persons and generated more than $5 million in illicit revenue for the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Kejia Wang, of Edison, New Jersey, was sentenced to 108 months in prison. In September 2025, he pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit identity theft. Zhenxing Wang, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was sentenced to 92 months in prison. In January 2026, he pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to the sentences of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton ordered the defendants to serve three years each of supervised release and to forfeit a total of $600,000 that was paid to them for facilitating the North Koreans. As of today, the United States has already received $400,000 of the ordered forfeiture amount. The court also ordered Kejia Wang to pay a judgment of $29,236.03 in restitution.

“For years, the defendants enriched themselves by assisting North Korean actors in a fraudulent scheme to gain employment with U.S. companies,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The ruse placed North Korean IT workers on the payrolls of unwitting U.S. companies and in U.S. computer systems, thereby harming our national security. NSD will hold accountable those who facilitate North Korea’s illicit revenue generation efforts.”

“This case exposes a sophisticated scheme that exploited stolen American identities and U.S. companies to generate millions of dollars for a hostile foreign regime. By operating so-called ‘laptop farms,’ these defendants enabled overseas actors to infiltrate U.S. businesses, access sensitive data and undermine our economic and national security,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “The sentences imposed this week reflect the seriousness of this conduct and our commitment to holding accountable those who facilitate sanctions evasion and foreign threats from within our borders.”

“Today’s announcement sends a clear message: U.S. nationals who facilitate DPRK IT worker schemes and funnel revenue to North Korea will face FBI investigation and potential prison time,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Working closely with our partners, the FBI will pursue their co-conspirators and hold accountable those who seek to empower the DPRK by defrauding American companies and stealing the identities of private citizens.”

“These sentencings should act as a deterrent to foreign individuals and entities attempting to illegally access and export critical defense information,” said Special Agent in Charge John Helsing for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Western Field Office. “Investigating the theft, illegal export, diversion, or proliferation of sensitive Department technologies is a priority for DCIS, particularly where such compromises could enable foreign adversaries to use those capabilities against our nation’s warfighters. We will continue to work aggressively with our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those who threaten our national security.”

“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is steadfast in its commitment to protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system from foreign adversaries and criminal actors,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Murphy of HSI San Diego. “This case demonstrates the critical importance of collaboration across law enforcement agencies to disrupt schemes that threaten our economy and national security. HSI will continue to aggressively pursue those who exploit our financial institutions and technology infrastructure for illicit purposes, ensuring that the United States remains a safe and secure place to do business.”

“Today’s sentences should serve as a warning to those who continue to carry out schemes intending to deceive U.S. companies,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto of the FBI Las Vegas Field office. “We will relentlessly pursue those responsible! The FBI is committed to working with our partners to expose and mitigate these fraudulent IT schemes and provide unwavering support to victims of North Korean cyber actors. The FBI strongly advises organizations to closely monitor their data, strengthen their remote hiring processes, and report any suspicious activity or fraud to the FBI.”

According to court documents, from approximately 2021 until October 2024, the defendants and their co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 80 U.S. persons to obtain remote jobs at more than 100 U.S. companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, and caused U.S. victim companies to incur legal fees, computer network remediation costs, and other damages of at least $3 million. Kejia Wang traveled to Shenyang and Dandong, China on two separate occasions in 2023, to meet with overseas actors about the scheme, including a former classmate that Kejia Wang knew was from North Korea. Kejia Wang went on to serve as the U.S.-based manager for the scheme, supervising at least five facilitators in the United States who collectively hosted hundreds of computers of U.S. victim companies at their residences. Zhenxing Wang was among the U.S. facilitators who received and hosted victim company laptops at his residence. He and the others also enabled overseas IT workers to access the laptops remotely by, among other things, connecting the laptops to hardware devices designed to allow for remote access (referred to as keyboard-video-mouse or “KVM” switches).

Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang created shell companies with corresponding financial accounts, including Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC, and Independent Lab LLC, to make it appear as though the overseas IT workers were affiliated with legitimate U.S. businesses. In fact, these companies had no employees or operations and existed only to further the scheme and enable the defendants and their co-conspirators to receive proceeds from the scheme. The financial accounts established by the two defendants for these shell companies ultimately received millions of dollars from victimized U.S. companies, much of which was subsequently transferred to overseas co-conspirators. In exchange for their services, Kejia Wang, Zhenxing Wang, and the four other U.S. facilitators received nearly $700,000 for their respective roles in the scheme.

IT workers employed under this scheme also gained access to sensitive employer data and source code, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) data from a California-based defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technologies. Specifically, between on or about January 19, 2024, and on or about April 2, 2024, an overseas co-conspirator remotely accessed without authorization the company’s laptop and computer files containing technical data and other information. The stolen data included information marked as being controlled under the ITAR.

The other eight defendants indicted in June 2025 remain at large and wanted by the FBI. Concurrent with today’s announcement, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the disruption of financial mechanisms of persons engaged in certain activities that support DPRK, including money laundering, exportation of luxury goods to North Korea, specified cyber-activity and actions that support weapons of mass destruction proliferation. The reward is offered for the following eight defendants who are alleged to have participated in the above-described scheme and one suspected IT worker:

• Xu Yongzhe (徐勇哲)
• Huang Jingbin (黄靖斌)
• Tong Yuze (佟雨泽)
• Zhou Baoyu (周宝玉)
• Yuan Ziyou (Samuel Yuan)
• Zhou Zhenbang (周震邦)
• Liu Menting (劉孟婷)
• Liu Enchia (刘恩嘉)
• Song Min Kim (also known as Chengmin Jin)

Previously, in June 2025, the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) announced the seizure of 17 web domains used in furtherance of this scheme and the seizure of 29 financial accounts, holding tens of thousands of dollars in funds, used to launder revenue for the North Korean regime through the remote IT work scheme. In October 2024, as part of this investigation, federal law enforcement executed searches at eight locations across three states that resulted in the recovery of more than 70 laptops and remote access devices, such as KVMs. Simultaneously with that action, the FBI seized four web domains associated with Kejia Wang’s and Zhenxing Wang’s shell companies Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC, and Independent Lab LLC.

The FBI Las Vegas Field Office, DCIS San Diego Resident Agency, and Homeland Security Investigations San Diego Field Office investigated the cases.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Holcomb and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Casey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section prosecuted the cases, with significant assistance from Legal Assistants Daniel Boucher and Margaret Coppes. Valuable assistance was also provided by Mark A. Murphy of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of New Jersey, Eastern District of New York, and Southern District of California.

***

Today’s announcement represents the Department’s latest actions to combat North Korean IT worker schemes as part of a joint NSD and FBI Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions effort, the DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative. This effort prioritizes targeting and disrupting the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation schemes and its U.S.-based enablers. The Department previously announced sentencings of DPRK IT worker facilitators in July and December 2025, and February and March 2026.

As described in Public Service Announcements published in May 2024, January 2025, and July 2025, North Korean remote IT workers posing as legitimate remote IT workers have committed data extortion and exfiltrated the proprietary and sensitive data from U.S. companies. DPRK IT worker schemes typically involve the use of stolen identities, alias emails, social media, online cross-border payment platforms, and online job site accounts, as well as false websites, proxy computers, and witting and unwitting third parties located in the U.S. and elsewhere. North Korean IT workers leverage these third parties, which include U.S.-based individuals, to gain fraudulent employment and access to U.S. company networks to generate this revenue

Other public advisories about the threats, red flag indicators, and potential mitigation measures for these schemes include a May 2022 advisory released by the FBI, Department of the Treasury, and Department of State; a July 2023 advisory from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and guidance issued in October 2023 by the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). As described the May 2022 advisory, North Korean IT workers have been known individually to earn up to $300,000 annually, generating hundreds of millions of dollars collectively each year, on behalf of designated entities, such as the North Korean Ministry of Defense and others directly involved in the DPRK’s weapons programs.

SAN DIEGO – David Anthony Burge and Kyrsten Renee Bospflug pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that for two years, they stole mail from multiple post offices, apartment complexes and business complexes all over San Diego County – converting other peoples’ checks, credit cards and personal information into more than $150,000 in nefarious profit.

According to their plea agreements, from July 2023 to July 2025, the husband-and-wife team worked as partners in crime, using stolen U.S. Postal Service keys and counterfeit keys manufactured by Burge to access and steal mail from the Bonita Post Office and apartment complexes all over San Diego - on Island Avenue, Georgia Court, Broadway Street, Ohio Street, 31st Street, Riviera Drive, and Pacific Beach Drive.

Burge and Bospflug admitted they altered stolen checks so they could cash them. They also impersonated victims at banks using the victim’s personally identifiable information – such as names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and credit and debit card account numbers - obtained from the stolen mail.

For example, Burge falsely presented himself to at least three different banks posing as one of his victims, using the victim’s actual birth date, Social Security number and other information to open bank accounts in the victim’s name. Burge then mobile deposited stolen checks that were altered to list the victim as the payee, and then he deposited the stolen checks into the bank accounts that he opened and controlled. Bospflug admitting doing the same at two other banks, posing as a different victim.

The plea agreement details how Burge and Bospflug exchanged text messages detailing their crimes. For instance, in February 2024, Burge reported to Bospflug that “mail was scarce” but that “we have 2 amex” and “let’s see what we can do with these checks.” Burge and Bospflug understood “2 amex” to mean two American Express credit cards stolen from the mail, and the reference to “checks” to mean checks intended for others and stolen from the mail. On another occasion, Bospflug texted Burge to ask him to confirm a victim’s social security number. Burge texted back a photograph containing that victim’s PII. Bospflug texted back, “Nice, I remembered it,” to which Burge replied, “[N]ice job … hopefully it works.”

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on June 25 at 12:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allison Rogge and Eric Olah.

If you believe you may have been a victim of this crime, please contact the United States Postal Inspection Service hotline at 877-876-2455.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 26-cr-00726-BTM                            

David Anthony Burge                                     Age: 33                                   Chula Vista, CA

Kyrsten Renee Bospflug                                 Age: 36                                  Spring Valley, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Mail Theft Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

United States Postal Inspection Service

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Two boat captains whose ill-fated maritime smuggling attempt resulted in the deaths of four migrants, including two children, pleaded guilty in federal court today.

Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna admitted to their participation in a wide-ranging conspiracy that involved coordinating with individuals in Mexico to smuggle aliens into the United States using maritime vessels.

According to admissions in their plea agreements, the pair was working with a Mexico-based smuggling organization that provided the defendants with a 20-foot panga with a single motor. On the evening of May 4, 2025, the defendants piloted the vessel from Popotla, Mexico, with 19 aliens aboard, overloaded and ill-equipped for any emergencies that lay ahead.

The captains expected that upon arrival into the United States, other individuals would meet them at shore, conceal the aliens in vehicles, and then further transport them to their intended destinations within the United States. But things went very wrong.

As the vessel approached the United States shoreline near Del Mar, California, on May 5, 2025, the motor failed, causing the vessel to rotate and capsize approximately 200 yards from the coast and throwing all the migrants – many unable to swim - into the water. Many survivors said the captains told them to remove their life jackets as they approached shore so they could quickly transition to vehicles.

Four migrants on the vessel died. Gorgonio Placido-Diaz, Marcos Lozada-Juarez, and 14-year-old minor P.B.P. drowned while attempting to reach shore safely. All three were found unresponsive near the shore and pronounced deceased. On or about May 21, 2025, a human foot was found on the shoreline near Torrey Pines State Beach. Based on a subsequent DNA analysis, the foot was found to belong to a 10-year-old minor, whose parents were also on board.

Each of the aliens was paying about $13,500 for transportation into the U.S.

Three other defendants were charged separately with Conspiring to Transport Aliens within the United States, in connection with the same May 5 fatalities. They have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced (25-cr-2056-BJC).

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill S. Streja, Edward Chang, and Sean Van Demark and Senior Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman from the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 25cr2057-BJC                                  

Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna                                 Age: 31                                   Mexico

Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva                           Age: 37                                   Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Attempted Bringing in Illegal Aliens Resulting in Death and Aiding and Abetting – Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(i), (v)(II), and (a)(1)(B)(iv)

Maximum penalty: Death or life in prison and a $250,000 fine

Bringing in Illegal Aliens for Financial Gain – Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii), and Aiding and Abetting, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2. Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison with a three-year mandatory minimum and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations – Marine Task Force

U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Air and Marine Operations

U.S. Border Patrol

United States Coast Guard

San Diego Lifeguard Service

San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

This case is a result of the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). JTFA is the Justice Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 450 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 395 U.S. convictions; more than 345 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 111 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On April 7, Daniel Lopez Patino, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found 124 pounds of cocaine concealed in the door panels and rear quarter panels of Lopez Patino’s vehicle when he applied for entry at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On April 8, Jesus Obed Mejia Cortez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendant was captain of a fishing vessel that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard with three undocumented aliens on board, including a man who could not swim and was not given a life vest. Also charged was passenger Diana Eloisa Huerta De Los Santos with Attempted Entry after Deportation.
• On April 9, Jorge Madrid, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, a Border Patrol agent found the undocumented alien hiding behind a rock, about a half mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border, east of Tecate. He was previously deported in 2023 from Nogales, Arizona.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Manuel Joseph Rose III of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 10 years in prison for committing an armed carjacking and unlawfully possessing ammunition as a convicted felon.

Rose was convicted in two separate jury trials in October. First, a jury found Rose guilty of Carjacking and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Violent Crime. The following week, a different jury found Rose guilty of possessing thousands of rounds of firearm ammunition while being a convicted felon.

“An armed carjacking is more than a theft — it is a violent crime that leaves lasting trauma for victims,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This sentence reflects the serious danger posed when a convicted felon arms himself and threatens innocent people.”

According to evidence presented at the carjacking trial, a cabdriver was dispatched to pick up Rose on the evening of July 3, 2024. After the cabdriver took Rose to several locations, Rose’s behavior became alarming. He started looking around and slinking down in the back seat of the cab. This prompted the cabdriver to stop at a 7-Eleven to ask for help. When the cabdriver did that, Rose said “Why did you go here? Why did you stop?” Rose then pulled out a handgun, racked the slide of the handgun, and pointed it at the cabdriver. As the cabdriver ran into the 7-Eleven, he dropped the keys to the cab just outside the driver’s door.

While the cabdriver was in the 7-Eleven calling police, Rose picked up the keys and fled from the in the cab. Minutes later, Chula Vista police found Rose driving the stolen cab and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Rose refused to yield to police and instead led police on a high-speed chase across multiple freeways. Rose drove so recklessly that police terminated the pursuit to protect the public. Rose eventually ditched the cab in North Park and, when apprehended by police, denied ever being the cab. However, Rose’s DNA and his hat were found in the cab, and the victim identified Rose as the carjacker.

The firearm Rose used during the carjacking was never recovered by police. However, on July 8, 2024 - five days after the carjacking - Rose’s living area was searched. During that search, investigators recovered, among other items, ghost gun kits, semiautomatic handgun parts and two loaded semiautomatic handgun magazines.

The July 8 search of the defendant’s living area also revealed a rifle-style firearm and safe containing more than five thousand rounds of various caliber ammunition, high-capacity ammunition magazines, and various gun-related items. Rose was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition as a previously convicted felon.

While the jury was deliberating in the carjacking trial, a second trial began concerning the firearm and ammunition seized from Rose’s residence. The second jury found Rose guilty of possessing the ammunition but did not reach a decision on whether Rose illegally possessed the rifle-style firearm.

When pronouncing the defendant’s sentence, U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson described the cabdriver’s experience as “horrific,” adding: “No one should have to go to work and face the situation he faced that day.”

“The FBI worked diligently on this investigation and our collaboration with our partners at the Chula Vista Police Department was the driving force that led to a successful prosecution,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “FBI San Diego will continue to engage with our partners to ensure all violent criminals are held accountable.”

“I would like to recognize the exceptional efforts of both our Patrol officers and Special Investigations Unit detectives, along with our federal partners,” said Chula Vista Police Department Acting Chief Dan Peak. “Their teamwork, professionalism, and dedication were critical in ensuring a thorough investigation and successful prosecution of the suspect.”

DEFENDANT                                   Case Number 24cr1586-TWR                                            

Manuel Rose III                                 Age: 40                                   San Diego, CA

CHARGES

Carjacking (18 U.S.C. §2119)

Maximum penalty: 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine

Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence (18 U.S.C. §924(c)(1)(A))

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and a $250,000 fine

Felon in Possession of Ammunition (18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1))

Maximum penalty: Fifteen years in prison and a $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Chula Vista Police Department

United States Marshals Service

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego Monday charging Maegan Hobbs and David Michael Richards Hansen-Taylor with distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 33-year-old San Diego resident.

According to court records, the pair sold the fatal dose of fentanyl in September 2024. On September 14, 2024, Hobbs allegedly warned the victim about the dangerous nature of the drugs she was selling, messaging him “to be careful with the next stuff.” On September 15, 2024, the day the victim was found deceased, Hobbs allegedly messaged the victim, “Did you feel the Fetty [fentanyl] at least?” The following day, she agreed to sell additional fentanyl to an undercover law enforcement officer.

Hansen, who allegedly conspired with Hobbs to sell fentanyl, is also charged with counterfeiting United States currency.

Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Overdose Response Team led the investigation. This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the San Diego Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the California Department of Health Care Services to investigate and prosecute the distribution of dangerous illegal drugs—fentanyl in particular—that result in overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration created the Overdose Response Team as a response to the increase in overdose deaths in San Diego County.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith D. Ellison.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 25CR2955-JO                                  

Maegan Hobbs                                                Age: 31                                   San Diego, CA

David Michael Richards Hansen-Taylor        Age: 35                                   Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 – Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)

Count 2 –Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death – Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine

Mandatory minimum: Twenty years in prison

Count 3 (Hansen-Taylor) – Counterfeiting United States Currency – Title 18, United States Code, Section 471

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

San Diego Police Department

Homeland Security Investigations

California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force

California Department of Health Care Services

La Mesa Police Department

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 131 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On March 29, Alfredo Chavez Montoya and Claudia Patricia Rivera, citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found 113 pounds of cocaine concealed in the ceiling, dashboard, center console, floor and back seat rest of their vehicle when they applied for entry to the U.S. at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On March 30, Frances Goenett, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered 102 pounds of methamphetamine and three pounds of fentanyl hidden in the car she was driving when she applied for entry to the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On April 1, Gonzalo Vargas-Castaneda, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry After Deportation. According to a complaint, the defendant presented fraudulent documents to Customs and Border Protection officials while trying to cross into the United States in the pedestrian lanes of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Vargas-Castaneda had been previously removed from the United States in 2011 via Nogales, Arizona, and in 2025 via San Ysidro.
• On March 31, Edgar Eduardo Valencia, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Valencia attempted to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with an undocumented immigrant in the passenger seat. The immigrant told Customs and Border Protection officers that he is a U.S. citizen from Yuma, Arizona. Unconvinced officers further questioned the passenger, who eventually said he is a Mexican citizen who was not being charged a smuggling fee in exchange for transporting drugs for the defendant once in the U.S.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Jiandong Chen, aka “Little Tiger,” pleaded guilty in federal court today and admitted he participated in a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States.

Chen, a Chinese national, is the second defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024.  According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation, government impersonation and refund scams targeting elderly victims.  Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number. Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers.

Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with the victim. In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims’ computers and to carry on the scams.

One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. Victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge.  While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally “over-refunded” money.  The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfer or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy. In reality, the victims had not received any money.

After building trust with a victim, the conspirators would induce victims to send money to members of the conspiracy in the United States, in locations throughout Southern California, Nevada and elsewhere.  The money was sent to members of the conspiracy, including Chen, most often as bulk cash via express mail packages but also as wire transfers. Certain members of the conspiracy also did in-person pickups of money directly from victims.

In one such instance captured in a YouTube video, defendant Chen traveled to a residence in the Los Angeles area to pick up bulk cash from someone he believed to be an elderly victim of the fraud scheme.  In a video posted to YouTube entitled “CONFRONTING SCAMMERS WITH A FAKE FUNERAL (EPIC REACTIONS),” Chen was confronted by a team of YouTubers about working for a scam organization. Here’s the video.

In most instances, however, victims were duped into sending bulk cash in the mail. When that would happen, members of the conspiracy would provide India-based co-conspirators a fictitious name plus an address of a retail location that could accept express mail packages. Those names and addresses would then be relayed to the victims, who were instructed to express mail the bulk cash.  Then, once a victim had sent the cash in the mail, Chen and his co-conspirators would use fake IDs to get the packages of cash sent by the elderly victims.

In his plea agreement, Chen admitted that he used fraudulent driver’s licenses or IDs matching the fictitious recipient names to retrieve the victim packages containing bulk cash.

Investigators identified over 2,000 elderly victims from throughout the country, including victims in San Diego, who were defrauded and who suffered more than $27 million in losses over an approximately two-year period between 2021-2023. Victims were in their 70s and 80s. Chen also admitted that he and his co-conspirators laundered fraud proceeds through cryptocurrency to transfer funds to foreign-based counterparts, to pay co-conspirators, and to fund travel to retrieve cash packages sent by victims, including trips to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chen and four co-defendants were charged by indictment in June 2024.  In August 2024, federal agents conducted a nationwide takedown of this investigation, which led to Chen’s arrest in the greater Los Angeles area.  

A sentencing hearing for Chen is scheduled for June 26, 2026, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 24-cr-1317-RSH-02

Jiandong Chen, aka “Little Tiger”                   Age: 42                                    Los Angeles, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349, 2326

Maximum Penalties: Forty years in prison; $1 million fine

Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and 1956(h)

Maximum Penalties: Twenty years in prison; maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the amount laundered

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General

Homeland Security Investigations

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

San Diego Police Department

San Diego Elder Justice Task Force

Chino Police Department

Coronado Police Department

Escondido Police Department

Glendora Police Department

Long Beach Police Department

Orange County Sheriff’s Department

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Ziyue Zhao, aka “Chris Zhao,” pleaded guilty in federal court today and admitted he participated in a $65 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting elderly victims across the United States, including in San Diego.

Zhao, a Chinese national, is the first defendant to plead guilty following a nationwide takedown in August 2025 of 28 alleged members of a Chinese organized crime ring.

The defendants, who are charged in various related indictments, are accused of participating in a massive $65 million fraud scheme targeting thousands of seniors across the United States—including a 97-year-old San Diego widow of a Holocaust survivor who lost her entire life savings.

Operating since at least 2019 and rooted in Southern California, the criminal network—primarily composed of Chinese nationals, many in the U.S. illegally—worked closely with India-based scam call centers. Fraudsters who took the calls posed as technical support agents, government officials, or bank employees, according to court records.

Victims received unsolicited calls or emails directing them to call various phone numbers, which, unbeknownst to the victims, were for the India-based scam call centers. Once connected, the scammers used scripted lies and psychological manipulation to gain the victims’ trust and often remote access to their computers. The most common scheme involved convincing victims they had received a mistaken refund and pressuring—or threatening—them to return the supposed excess funds via wire transfer, cash, or gift cards.

Victims sending cash were instructed to use overnight or express couriers, addressing packages to fake names tied to false IDs. These were sent to short-term rentals in the U.S. used by conspirators, including the indicted defendants, to collect the fraud proceeds.

In his plea agreement, Zhao admitted that to facilitate receipt of victim packages, members of the conspiracy, including Zhao, booked short-term rentals in a hub-and-spoke pattern: a hub would be booked for approximately one week; spoke locations would be booked nearby for shorter stays.  After some time, members of the conspiracy would relocate to a new location and continue the pattern.

Once a victim had been defrauded, victims were instructed to withdraw bulk cash, to conceal the cash in packages, and to send cash-laden packages via express mail carriers to names and addresses provided by the conspirators. The recipient names were fictitious names corresponding with fake IDs. The recipient addresses were for the short-term rental locations.

In his plea agreement, Zhao admitted that he participated in the fraud between February 2020 through March 2021. During that time, the organization received approximately 1,269 victim packages each containing an average of approximately $14,000, or an estimated $17,776,000 in victim losses during just that time period.

This multi-year fraud and money laundering investigation was led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California and Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.

A sentencing hearing for Ziyue Zhao is scheduled for June 23, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 25-cr-1765-TWR-07

Ziyue Zhao, aka “Chris Zhao”            Age: 30           Flushing, NY

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 – Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud - Title 18, U.S.C., Sections 1349, 2326

Maximum penalty: Forty years in prison; a maximum $1 million fine

Count 2 – Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison; a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the amount of monetary instruments involved in the offense, whichever is greatest

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD)

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

Mountain View (CA) Police Department

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FLDE)

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SAN DIEGO – Steven Terrell Lewis of El Cajon was sentenced in federal court today to 19.5 years in prison 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.

At today’s hearing, the adult victim addressed the court, describing the devastating harm human traffickers inflict and how they deliberately target society’s most vulnerable – including children and, in her case, individuals experiencing homelessness. The mother of the minor victim provided a written statement to the court, sayng the defendant’s “predatory behavior” caused “immeasurable trauma.”

Lewis was convicted by a federal jury on May 2, 2025. According to evidence presented at trial, on April 22, 2024, as the 14-year-old victim was walking to a friend’s house after school around 3 p.m. in El Cajon, Lewis used his vehicle to block her path on the sidewalk, exited his vehicle and snatched her cellphone from her hand to get her cellphone number.

Lewis then proceeded to send sexually explicit text messages to the victim before she was able to block his phone number. The next day, on April 23, 2024, Lewis continued texting the victim, except this time from a different phone number through TextFree, a mobile application and web service.

When Lewis identified himself as “Pimpin,” sent a sexually explicit photograph and invited the minor to “go get some money” with him, the minor victim immediately notified a coach at her high school. The El Cajon Police Department and San Diego Sheriff’s Office responded. The case was further investigated by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.

After Lewis’ attempt to sex traffic the minor victim failed, one week later, on April 28, 2024, he began recruiting the 22-year-old victim through MegaPersonals and sent her to Roosevelt Avenue in National City, known as “the blade,” to work street-based prostitution for his financial benefit. On April 29, 2024, the adult victim was picked up by an undercover National City police officer posing as a commercial sex buyer and was offered resources to leave prostitution. However, Lewis continued to message the adult victim, threatening to kill her if she did not continue to engage in commercial sex for his benefit.

“Sex traffickers prey on the most vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This sentence is a strong reminder that federal prosecution awaits those who attempt to traffic human beings for profit.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyndzie M. Carter and Derek Ko.

If you believe you or someone you know has had an encounter with Lewis, investigators ask that you contact the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24cr1349-JES                                   

Steven Terrell Lewis                                       Age: 40                                   El Cajon, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Attempted Coercion/Enticement of a Minor – 18 U.S.C., Section 2422(b)

Maximum penalty: Ten-year mandatory minimum up to life

Attempted Sex Trafficking by Force/Coercion, 18 U.S.C., Section 1591(a)

Maximum penalty: Fifteen-year mandatory minimum up to life

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force

Homeland Security Investigations

National City Police Department

El Cajon Police Department

San Diego Sheriff’s Office

San Diego District Attorney’s Office

The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a cooperative effort involving the California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, National City Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Probation Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

This case is the result of the ongoing efforts of the Special Victims Unit.  Formed in April 2025, the SVU is tasked with leading collaborations between federal and local law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving sex trafficking and child exploitation, civil rights, and labor trafficking. The SVU oversees the Southern District of California liaisons to the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and Project Safe Childhood

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 132 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On March 22, Jacob Ross Juri, a citizen of the United States, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found 59 pounds of cocaine concealed in a non-factory compartment in the roof of the vehicle the defendant was driving when applying for entry to the U.S. at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
• On March 23, Victoriano Angulo-Estrada, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, a Border Patrol Agent encountered Angulo-Estrada, who was illegally present in the U.S., about 1.5 miles north of the international border, west of the Tecate Port of Entry. He had been previously deported in October 2025 through San Ysidro.
• On March 25, Miguel Rosas Zambrano, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendant was the captain of a smuggling boat that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard about 3.5 miles west of Point Loma with eight undocumented Mexican nationals on board. Also arrested were Daniel Eduardo Guerrero Miranda, Jose Guadalupe Padilla Munoz and Maria Elena Tello Figueroa. They were charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO –Albert Guerra of Florida pleaded guilty in federal court today to bank fraud and money laundering charges, admitting he traveled across the country impersonating bank employees to defraud victims—many of them elderly.

According to his plea agreement, Guerra and his criminal associates obtained bank customer information, called victims and falsely claimed to be investigating fraud at the victims’ banks. He convinced victims to withdraw cash and deliver it to purported bank employees—which were just rideshare service drivers that Guerra sent to retrieve cash from victims and to deliver back to him.  Guerra frequently told the drivers they were picking up documents from “my grandma” and “my grandpa.”

The plea agreement details how after flying from Houston to San Diego on October 26, 2025, Guerra defrauded at least three victims in the greater San Diego area, collecting $13,000 from one victim, $37,000 from another, and $86,300 from yet another. Just days later, Guerra made a $24,000 cash payment for a Tesla Model 3 in Las Vegas. And in January 2026, Guerra travelled to Portland, Oregon, where he defrauded at least one victim out of $40,000.

Guerra is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino on June 18, 2026, at 9 a.m.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric R. Olah.

If you or someone you know is aged 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available through the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). You can also report fraud to any local law enforcement agency or on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

DEFENDANT                                    Case Number 26cr607-JLS                                     

Albert Guerra                                      Age: 26                                   Miramar, FL

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Bank Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1344(2)

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $1 million fine

Money Laundering – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1957

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

San Diego Elder Justice Task Force

Federal Bureau of Investigation

San Diego Police Department

Portland Police Bureau (Oregon)

SAN DIEGO – A federal jury today convicted a mother and daughter from Melbourne, Florida, of multiple counts of health care fraud, payment of illegal kickbacks, and conspiracy to commit those offenses.

The mother, Cindy Justice, was the owner and president of PureScience Rx, a pharmacy located in Poway. The daughter, Ashleigh Davis, was the operations manager at PureScience Rx and was a licensed pharmacy technician.

Following an 11-day trial, a jury convicted the defendants of orchestrating a Medicare fraud scheme involving illegal kickbacks and medically unnecessary prescription drugs, largely tied to purported “footbath” treatments. Evidence showed the defendants paid marketers illegal commissions based on Medicare reimbursements in exchange for prescriptions generated through telehealth encounters that never involved legitimate medical examinations. The kickbacks were concealed through sham contracts and fabricated invoices falsely portraying the payments as hourly compensation.

Trial evidence further established that telemarketing call centers targeted Medicare beneficiaries and secured agreement to receive expensive medications regardless of medical need. Many prescriptions were fraudulently issued using the stolen identities of nurse practitioners. The defendants then billed Medicare as though the prescriptions were medically necessary and based on proper evaluations. Expert testimony confirmed, however, the drugs—particularly those ordered to be used in footbaths—were not FDA-approved or supported by recognized medical compendia for such use. Medicare ultimately paid more than $4.9 million on the fraudulent claims.

“Medicare exists to care for patients—not to bankroll sham prescriptions and kickback schemes disguised as medical treatment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

“The FBI prioritizes Medicare fraud and meticulously investigates anyone trying to scam the United States Government and its taxpayers,” said TJ Holland, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Today’s conviction is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of FBI San Diego’s healthcare fraud team and our law enforcement partners at HHS-OIG to holding fraudsters accountable.”

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on July 29, 2026.   

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero and George Manahan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California.  Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Valerie Chu contributed significantly to the case.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 24cr01229-LL                                  

Cindy Justice                                                  Age: 70                                   Melbourne, Florida

Ashleigh Davis                                              Age: 41                                    Melbourne, Florida

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Pay Unlawful Remuneration—Title 18, U.S.C. Section 371

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison and $250,000 fine

Health Care Fraud—Title 18, U.S.C. Section 1347

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine (Conspiracy to Commit Health Care

Payment of Unlawful Remuneration – Title 42, U.S.C. Section 1320-7d

Maximum penalty: Four years in prison and $250,000 fine (Payment of Unlawful Remuneration)

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)

SAN DIEGO – Five indictments and one complaint were unsealed in federal court this week charging 11 individuals with distributing methamphetamine throughout San Diego County.

The charges are the result of a 16-month investigation by the FBI San Diego Violent Crime Task Force – Gang Group and Homeland Security Investigations that targeted Asian Crips-affiliated drug dealers in Mira Mesa and elsewhere. The investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, undercover agents and confidential sources.

In a coordinated takedown this morning, more than 200 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials executed four search warrants in Escondido, National City, Ramona and San Diego and arrested seven defendants. Four defendants were arrested on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Including seizures today and throughout this investigation, authorities have confiscated more than 11 pounds of methamphetamine and two firearms.

“We allege that these defendants turned neighborhoods into a marketplace for drugs and crime,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “By dismantling this network, we’re helping give the community back its streets—and its peace of mind.”

“The success of this joint Homeland Security Task Force operation is a testament to the dedication, collaboration, and professionalism of all our law enforcement partners,” said Kevin Murphy, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego. “Together, we have made significant strides in disrupting gang-associated drug trafficking and protecting our communities. HSI remains committed to prioritizing public safety.”

“Today’s multiple arrests of alleged violent gang members resulted from FBI San Diego and our law enforcement partners at HSI, SDCSO, SDPD, CVPD, and CDCR working together to stop the flow of drugs into our neighborhoods,” said TJ Holland, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “The FBI will continue to coordinate complex joint investigations to ensure justice is served and our communities are safe.”

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Keith D. Ellison and Daniel Casillas.

DEFENDANTS

Case Number 26CR0903-DMS

Muriel Burless (Age: 43)

Eric Rose (Age: 45)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute more than 50 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual), in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 846

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years in prison; $10 million fine.

Case Number 26CR0904-DMS

Roy Elazgui (Age: 50)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Possession with Intent to Distribute more than 50 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual), in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fine

Case Number 26CR0905-DMS

Rex Hernandez (Age: 57)

Antonio Gregorio Amposta (Age: 52)

Jesus Rodriguez (Age: 49)

Clyde Johnson (Age: 64)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute more than 50 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual), in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 846

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fine

Case Number 26CR0906-DMS

Jeremy Espiritu (Age: 36)

Albert Mora (Age: 54)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute more than 5 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual), in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 846

Maximum Penalty: Forty years in prison, mandatory minimum five years; $5 million fine

Case Number 26CR0907-JLS

Jason Quila (Age: 45)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Distribution of more than 5 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual), in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum Penalty: Forty years in prison, mandatory minimum five years; $5 million fine.

Case Number 26MJ01036

Priscilla Violante (Age: 38)

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Possession with Intent to Distribute more than 50 Grams of Methamphetamine (Actual) and 40 Grams of Fentanyl, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum Penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Violent Crimes Task Force – Gang Group (VCTF-GG), which included investigators from the following agencies:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Homeland Security Investigations
• San Diego Police Department
• California Department of Corrections
• San Diego County Sheriff’s Office
• Chula Vista Police Department
• National City Police Department
• San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Investigations

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and INTERPOL, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

SAN DIEGO – Ricardo Alonzo of San Diego was sentenced in federal court to three months in prison for smuggling protected parrots and parakeets into the United States without the required quarantines designed to prevent the spread of diseases.

At a hearing yesterday, Alonzo was also ordered to pay $3,262 in restitution to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the care and quarantine of the parakeets. Three of the 17 smuggled birds died.

“This defendant used illegal smuggling practices that disregarded the laws of the United States, the lives of the birds he was smuggling, and wildlife within the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Our office is committed to holding accountable anyone who endangers wildlife and the public.”

“This investigation highlights the critical work our law enforcement officers undertake to protect wildlife and natural resources from exploitation,” said Assistant Director Doug Ault of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. “Alonzo undermined the vital conservation of vulnerable populations of Burrowing Parakeets, Yellow-Crowned Amazon Parrots, and Red-Lored Amazon Parrots by illegally removing them from their habitat and smuggling them into the U.S., circumventing controls meant to prevent the entry of zoonotic diseases and other pathogens into the U.S. This investigation demonstrates the strong collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Justice in bringing wildlife traffickers to justice.

According to court records and evidence presented in court, Alonzo crossed the border on May 4, 2025, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. During inspection, the defendant lied and twice stated that he had nothing to declare. The defendant’s lies were uncovered in secondary inspection, when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer noticed some lunch box-sized bags hidden under the rear seat of the car. The bags contained three chickens and 17 juvenile birds—the birds were later identified by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspector as 10 Burrowing Parakeets (Cyanoliseus patagonus), five Yellow-Crowned Amazon Parrots (Amazona ochrocephala), and two Red-Lored Amazon Parrots (Amazona autumnalis). The parakeets and parrots were juvenile birds of differing ages, likely between one week and a few months old, some of them appearing young enough that they could not yet fully walk.

Burrowing Parakeets (Cyanoliseus patagonus) are local to Chile and Argentina, whereas Yellow-Crowned Amazon Parrots (Amazona ochrocephala) and Red-Lored Amazon Parrots (Amazona autumnalis) are native to Mexico, the West Indies, and northern South America. All three species are protected and listed under Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The lawful importation of these parrots and parakeets requires the importer to follow a process, and the birds must be subject to quarantine before they can be introduced into the United States. Many animals have diseases that can be transferred to humans (zoonotic diseases) or other animals, which can have disastrous health effects. For example, birds can carry and spread avian influenza (bird flu), psittacosis, and histoplasmos. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia and death in humans and other birds including the United States poultry farms. There are many other diseases that can be transmitted from different animals and have disastrous effects, which is why it is necessary to quarantine animals entering the United States to limit and safeguard against this potential disease transmission.

One of the juvenile birds the defendant hid in his car and illegally imported

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabet F. Brown.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 25CR2234-AJB                                

Ricardo Alonzo                                               Age: 27                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Unlawful Importation of Wildlife – 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A) and 3373(d)(1)(A)

Maximum penalty: Five years in custody, $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Office of Law Enforcement

Homeland Security Investigations