February 23, 2007

ICE agents arrest four and seize more than $5 million of heroin
DEA agents, Customs and Border Protection Officers partner to uncover airport smuggling attempt

NEWARK, N.J. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents arrested four suspects for attempting to smuggle over 12 pounds of heroin, with an estimated street value over $5 million, into the United States.

ICE special agents working in conjunction with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Newark Liberty Airport discovered the drugs concealed in a passenger's luggage on a flight arriving from Guyaquil, Ecuador. During a routine inspection of passenger Eddie Palma-Jurado, a 23-year-old native of Ecuador, CBP inspectors found dozens of heroin pellets hidden within bars of candy. The candy bars were each individually wrapped, and then re-packaged into larger packs. The heroin was contained in over 100 separate candy bars.

Palma-Jurado, along with Jorge Avila-Ojeda, a 27-year-old American citizen, Marco Ponton-Ojeda, a 34-year-old Ecuadorian national, and Pedro Mishquero, a 38-year-old Ecuadorian national, were charged with attempting to import over 12 pounds of heroin in violation of Title 21, United States Code (USC), Section 963. The arrests occurred on Wednesday afternoon. In addition, ICE special agents seized a 2002 BMW X5 in connection with the smuggling attempt.

"One of the core missions for ICE is to prevent these dangerous and illegal drugs from entering the United States, which can only bring harm to our streets and communities," said Kyle Hutchins, special agent in charge for ICE's Office of Investigations in Newark. "Successful criminal investigations, like we witnessed in this operation, will continue to mount as we strengthen our partnerships with the Drug Enforcement Administration and CBP, thus enhancing our ability to identify sophisticated methods to smuggle narcotics into the United States."

Gerard P. McAleer, special agent in charge of the DEA, New Jersey Division stated, "The collaborative efforts of DEA, ICE and CBP have a synergistic effect against drug trafficking organizations. We will clip the wings of narcotic smugglers that attempt to bring contraband into the United States."

The defendants appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court, Newark, N.J. before U.S. Magistrate Patty Schwartz and were held without bail.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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