May 30, 2007

ICE street gang taskforce and Hudson County Prosecutors Office uproot major Latin King drug and crime ring
Six month operation nets 19 arrests and drugs

Guttenberg, N.J. - Members of the Gang Investigation Unit (GIU), led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, today announced a significant enforcement operation that shut down a criminal enterprise run by members of the Latin Kings international gang in northern Hudson County.

Tito Lopez, a.k.a. "King Chino," 28, from Guttenberg, an allegedly high-ranking Latin King gang member and leader of the drug distribution organization, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, in violation Title 21 of United States Code. "King Chino" Lopez is allegedly responsible for leading fellow gang members to a host of criminal actions including drug distribution, burglaries, witness intimidation, assaults and weapon sales. In all, the operation netted five federal, 12 state and two ICE administrative arrests. Additionally, 340 grams of cocaine and over one pound of marijuana were seized.

The Hudson County arrests, part of ICE's Operation Community Shield, were the result of a six-month investigation led by ICE, with close coordination from the Hudson County Prosecutors Office-Municipal Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Guttenberg Police Department, Paterson Police Department, Union City Police Department, and West New York Police.

Operation Community Shield is a national law enforcement initiative that partners ICE with other federal, state and local law enforcement, combining resources, authorities and expertise in an effort to target gangs.

"The key to the success of Operation Community Shield lies in criminally prosecuting and removing gang members from the United States, and dismantling gang operations by tracing and seizing their cash, weapons and other assets," said Kyle Hutchins, special agent in charge for ICE's office of investigations in Newark. "Today's announcement is an outstanding example of how ICE works with county and local law enforcement partners to make neighborhoods safer by identifying violent transnational gangs and using our investigative authority to develop intelligence on their membership, associates and organizations."

Arrest and seizure operations were conducted between April 30, 2007 and May 24, 2007 by over 30 ICE special agents and over 30 state and local law enforcement officials. Other significant arrests as part of this operation include:

• Jorge Paula, a.k.a. "Mono," 32 years old, New York, NY, conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
• Oscar Williams a.k.a "Matute", 25 years old, Secaucus, NJ, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and ecstasy.
• David Rodriguez, a.k.a. "Chapo," a 26-year-old Jersey City resident, charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
• Pablo Figueroa, a.k.a. "Pablito," 31, Jersey City, charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
• Juan Carlos Cortes, 27, Jersey City, charged with possession of heroin.
• Jerry Serrano, a.k.a. "Jay," 29, Jersey City,conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
• Rene Reyna, 29, charged with contempt of court for failing to appear for underlying narcotics charges.
• Jair Davila a.k.a "JR", 22, Guttenberg, NJ, a criminal alien unlawfully present in the United States.
• Walter Martinez, 29, Guttenberg, NJ, conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
• Orlando Blue a.k.a "OHIO", 20, North Bergen, NJ, conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
• Pedro SANTOS-JIMENEZ a.k.a "P", 24, North Bergen, NJ, conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
• Fausto Marcelino a.k.a "Papito", 27, West New York, NJ, a criminal alien unlawfully present in the United States.
• Miguel Maldonado, 23, Jersey City, NJ, conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance (CDS).
• Miguel Munoz, 35, North Bergen, NJ, possession of CDS.
• Misael Roman, 23, Paterson, NJ, conspiracy to distribute CDS.
• Ralph Gonzalez a.k.a "Attica", 37, Jersey City, NJ, conspiracy to distribute CDS.
• Jose Santos a.k.a. "King Vengeance", 33, West New York, NJ, conspiracy to distribute CDS.
• Alexander Serrano a.k.a "King Indio", 42, Jersey City, NJ, conspiracy to distribute CDS.

ICE/Newark's Gang Investigation Unit utilized criminal statutory authority under New Jersey and Federal law and combined those powers with the administrative authority granted under U.S. Immigration law to dismantle the drug distribution organization and remove criminal alien gang members unlawfully present in the United States.

"Our successful partnership with ICE led to this significant suppression of street gang activity in Hudson County. We anticipate more joint investigations in the near future," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.

ICE initiated Operation Community Shield in February 2005, to address the public safety threat posed by transnational gangs. ICE field offices across the country conducted threat assessments to identify gangs within their areas of responsibility and the associated criminal activity. The results of the assessment showed that most major metropolitan areas were experiencing a surge in gang activity. Additionally, the survey showed that membership of these violent transnational gangs was comprised largely of foreign-born nationals.

Since the inception of Operation Community Shield, ICE agents across 76 field offices, working in conjunction with hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, have arrested over 4,800 gang members representing over 350 different gangs. Along with the arrests of gang members, ICE has seized over 215 firearms.

-- 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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