News Releases

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending Dec. 9, 2011

Dec. 8, 2011 — Business owner pleads guilty to trafficking in counterfeit circuit breakers

From December 2008 to April 2010, Elod Tamas Toldy devised and executed a scheme in which he traveled to China with sample circuit breakers produced in the United States and met with manufacturers there to produce products bearing counterfeit trademarks. Toldy then imported the counterfeit circuit breakers into the United States. This week, he was sentenced to one count of mail fraud and one count of trafficking in counterfeit circuit breakers, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Full Story

Dec. 7, 2011 — Husband and wife charged with sex trafficking teenagers

Mahendar Singh and his wife are accused of conspiring to traffic teenage girls to provide sex acts to customers in exchange for money and other things of value. According to the indictment, the defendants recruited teenagers by promising them money, drugs and a family-like environment. Instead, the couple maintained control over the victims by using physical force and fostering a climate of fear. Both individuals were arraigned this week following a probe by ICE HSI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Full Story

Dec. 7, 2011 — 3 Guatemalan fugitives arrested by ICE in Boston-area

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested three Guatemalan nationals in Lynn, Mass., this week. All three individuals were wanted by Guatemalan authorities for the rape and murder of a female, Herlinda Elizabeth Lopez Lopez. They are now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Full Story

Dec. 7, 2011 — Trinitarios gang members arrested in New York

Fifty members and associates of the Bronx Trinitarios Gang have been charged with racketeering, narcotics and firearms offenses. These charges resulted from a long-term investigation titled Operation Patria. ICE HSI and several other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation. Full Story

Dec. 5, 2011 — ICE, federal and local partners, seize 300 kilograms of cocaine in Puerto Rico

ICE HSI special agents working jointly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Puerto Rico Police Department seized 300 kilograms of cocaine from a boat off the coast of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $6.5 million. Full Story