ICE

PORTLAND, Ore. — A 25-year-old Mexican national linked to the killing of a Texas teen five years ago is facing deportation following his arrest Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Gilberto Javier Arellano-Gamboa was turned over to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers following his release by the Oregon Department of Corrections. The custody transfer occurred after Arellano-Gamboa fulfilled a 50-month sentence imposed following his conviction for attempted first degree sexual abuse. Arellano-Bamboa will be held at the Northwest Detention Center, Tacoma, Wash., where he will be processed for administrative removal and repatriation to Mexico.

"Identifying and removing criminal aliens is a top enforcement priority for ICE," said Nathalie Asher, field office director of ICE ERO in Oregon. "By working hand-in-hand with local officials, we can help ensure that individuals like Arellano-Gamboa don’t pose a threat to public safety."

Arellano-Gamboa was arrested in 2007 along with his cousin Alejandro Emeterio Rivera-Gamboa. They were charged with the killing of 15-year-old Dani Countryman at an Oregon City apartment. Rivera-Gamboa ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse and was sentenced to life in prison. Four others were also convicted of crimes related to sex abuse of a minor.

Prior to his arrest and conviction, Arellano-Gamboa had no known criminal history or recorded encounters with ICE.

ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security.

  Read more about ICE arrests man involved in 2007 Oregon City killing

Today ICE announced the creation of a new office to serve as a point of contact for those who have "concerns, questions, recommendations or important issues they would like to raise." Boy, do we!

The office will be led by Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, who has been at ICE since 2008, mainly working as an advisor on reforming detention practices. Prior to joining ICE, Strait was a legal services attorney in Prince George's County, Md.

Strait sees his job as helping to flack the administration's non-enforcement policies, which he calls "sensible priorities". He says he will "strive to expand and enhance our dialogue with the stakeholder community." Except to Strait, the only stakeholders worthy of attention are illegal aliens and their advocates.

But I think we should take his statement at face value. He says one of his main duties is to "assist individuals and community stakeholders in addressing complaints and concerns in accordance with agency policies and operations, particularly concerns related to ICE enforcement actions that affect U.S. citizens".

Since ICE has not seen fit to establish a victim's advocacy unit to address the concerns of victims and families, instead establishing a hotline for illegal aliens in detention, I hope all you citizens out there who have been affected by illegal immigration – especially those who have been the victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens – will not hesitate to get in touch with Mr. Strait, and let him and his staff hear your concerns. In his blog, he said he is "thrilled" to be in this role, and hopes you'll reach out to him. He can be reached at andrew.strait@dhs.gov or (202) 732-3999.

  Read more about ICE Names "Public Advocate" – Call Him!

Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement officers assisted Friday in what they are calling the largest heroin seizure ever in Southern Oregon.

MADGE assisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who learned that two suspects were carrying heroin on a commercial bus heading through Jackson County.

Officers entered the bus bound for Vancouver, Wash., and arrested two California residents and seized two large bags packed with 47 pounds of heroin, worth approximately $1 million.

"It is safe to say this is the most heroin seized in Southern Oregon at one time," MADGE Lt. Brett Johnson said.

The heroin was wrapped tightly in plastic and bundled in 20 individual packages. Each package weighed about 1 kilogram.

Johnson said the street value of the heroin could have blossomed to $2.5 million once it was broken down into smaller quantities and sold.

"Usually 1 pound of heroin is considered a large bust for us," Johnson said. "Forty-seven pounds is unheard of around here."

The officers arrested Antonio Contreras, 21, of Mira Loma, Calif., and Ranee Duarte, 18, of Santa Ana, Calif. They were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession of heroin.

Contreras was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on a bail of $525,000, while Duarte was cited and released on her own recognizance.

Johnson did not speculate on how the pair came to possess such a large quantity of heroin.

"They did take a big risk by packing it all together and driving through," Johnson said.

Johnson said the pair probably weren't going to distribute the heroin in Jackson County.

"They were passing through on their way to the major markets up north," he said.

However, the heroin most likely would have trickled down here to feed Southern Oregon's growing appetite for black tar heroin, Johnson said.

"Over the past two years we have seen a significant increase in heroin on the street," Johnson said. "It is right up there with meth now as an issue."

The black tar variety of heroin is usually injected, but also can be smoked.

Johnson said MADGE has previously worked cases in which drugs were transported on commercial buses or other public transit.

"Drugs are brought to the area in every way, though," Johnson said. "Sometimes it's on buses, sometimes in rented cars and other times in personal cars. They constantly change their tactics and we change with them."

Johnson said the heroin will be stored in a highly secure place before the trial. After the case is concluded, the heroin will be destroyed.

MADGE is an interagency drug and gang task force that includes personnel from the Medford Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff's Department, Oregon State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jackson County Community Justice and the Jackson County District Attorney's Office.

  Read more about Officers seize $1 million worth of heroin

Eleven suspects described as “heavy hitting, large scale drug traffickers” were arrested this week on federal charges in connection with a multistate methamphetamine distribution ring, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced Thursday. Dec. 1, 2011. (Washington County Sheriff's Office)

Eleven suspects described as “heavy hitting, large scale drug traffickers” were arrested this week on federal charges in connection with a multistate methamphetamine distribution ring, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced Thursday.

The arrests follow a multi-year investigation. According to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, the suspects used cell phones to traffic drugs from February of this year to the present. The indictment alleges investigators used court sanctioned wiretaps to capture communication between the defendants and drug supply sources in Mexico.

Law enforcement from federal, Oregon and Washington agencies executed 14 search and arrest warrants on Tuesday and Wednesday, recovering 15 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin, over 20 firearms and large amounts of cash.

The defendants include:

Hugo Gonzalez-Pasaye, aka Gordo, 27, of Hillsboro [ICE Hold}
Adrian Gonzalez-Pasaye, 35, of Vancouver [ICE Hold]
Diego Bermudez-Ortiz, 23, of Hillsboro [ICE Hold]
Edwin Magana-Solis, aka Meno, Roberto Lopez-Delgado, 27, of Hillsboro [ICE Hold]
Mauricio Cruz-Garcia, aka Kalamako of Portland [ICE Hold]
Jose Garcia-Zambrano, 20, of Hillsboro [ICE Hold]
Ricky Valero, 43, of Forest Grove
Gregorio Gutierrez-Montes, aka Goyo, 22, of Portland

The federal charges carry a minimum sentence of 10 years, and a maximum of life in prison.

Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation including: Westside Interagency Narcotics Task Force, DEA, FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Oregon State Police, the Vancouver Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Sherwood Police Department, the Oregon National Guard, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the Portland Police Bureau, the Hillsboro Police Department, the Beaverton Police Department, the Clark Skamania Drug Task Force and the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. District Attorneys Geoffrey A. Barrow and John C. Laing. 
  Read more about Eleven arrested in Ore., Wash. on federal charges in meth distribution ring

As of September 27 all Oregon counties are now signed up for the Secure Communities program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is a major milestone in the battle against illegal immigration.

What this means is that anyone booked into a county jail in Oregon will have their FBI fingerprints screened against the immigration data base of ICE.  Fake driver licenses and stolen Social Security numbers will no longer protect illegal aliens from being identified.

The following is ICE’s description of the Secure Communities program

Secure Communities is a simple and common sense way to carry out ICE's priorities. It uses an already-existing federal information-sharing partnership between ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that helps to identify criminal aliens without imposing new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement. For decades, local jurisdictions have shared the fingerprints of individuals who are booked into jails with the FBI to see if they have a criminal record.

Under Secure Communities, the FBI automatically sends the fingerprints to ICE to check against its immigration databases. If these checks reveal that an individual is unlawfully present in the United States or otherwise removable due to a criminal conviction, ICE takes enforcement action – prioritizing the removal of individuals who present the most significant threats to public safety as determined by the severity of their crime, their criminal history, and other factors – as well as those who have repeatedly violated immigration laws.

Secure Communities imposes no new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement, and the federal government, not the state or local law enforcement agency, determines what immigration enforcement action, if any, is appropriate.

Last year ICE deported 395,000 illegal aliens.  About one-half, or 195,000 were criminal aliens. A criminal alien is defined as someone who has committed additional crimes beyond being in the United States illegally.  About one-third of the deported criminal aliens, about 66,000, had been convicted of murder, rape or major drug trafficking.

For more information, go to www.ice.gov/secure_communities. Read more about Secure Communities Program Is Now Statewide in Oregon