Category: Security News

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove held a powerful and emotional phone call with Judge Enrique Camarena, son of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. In 1985, Special Agent Camarena was abducted, tortured, and killed. His alleged killer, Rafael Caro Quintaro, was among the 29 wanted defendants taken into U.S. custody yesterday, who will now face prosecution under U.S. law.  

“President Trump and I are committed to holding every member of the cartels accountable for their crimes and to bring justice to the family of each and every victim,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “It was truly an honor to speak with Judge Camarena to express my sincere condolences for the loss of his father and assure him that we will be relentless in our pursuit of justice in this case.”

Statement provided by the Camarena family:

“Today is a day we have long awaited. Forty long years of waiting, wondering, and hoping that justice would finally come. After four decades, the person responsible for taking our beloved Kiki from us has been brought to the United States to answer for what he did.

“There are no words to fully describe the pain we have endured: the empty seat at the dinner table, the birthdays, and holidays without him. The life that was stolen, not just from him, but from all of us who loved him. We have lived with this loss every single day.

“For 14,631 days, we held on to hope — hope that this moment would come. Hope that we would live to see accountability. And now, that hope has finally turned into reality. While no amount of time can erase the pain or bring back what we lost, today marks a step toward justice.

“We want to thank the DEA, law enforcement agencies, investigators, and officials— both in the United States and abroad — who never gave up.

“We want to thank President Trump for using the weight of this country to accomplish what we thought would never occur. Thank you to everyone who has worked on this case for 40 years. We don’t know all of you but please know that you have our family’s deepest thanks and appreciation.

“To those who have stood by us, supported us, celebrated Red Ribbon Week with us and carried us through the darkest moments — our extended family, friends, and even strangers who have shared in our grief — we are forever grateful.”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Mexican national and high-ranking, violent member of the Los Zetas cartel pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana destined for the United States.

According to court documents, Jaime Gonzalez-Duran, also known as Hummer, 49, was an original member of Los Zetas, a drug trafficking organization comprised of former Mexican military officers that began as an armed militaristic wing of the Gulf Cartel. Los Zetas later formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel, and they collectively operated under the name “The Company.” Gonzalez-Duran, a high-ranking member of Los Zetas, served as a plaza boss in the city of Miguel Aleman, Mexico, controlling the Company’s drug-trafficking activities in and through that area, and, later, as a regional commander in the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Aleman, and Reynosa, Mexico, supervising dozens of Los Zetas members in the region. In his roles, Gonzalez-Duran bribed law enforcement officers to ensure drug loads would not be disturbed; maintained weapons, explosives, and ammunitions caches; and committed acts of violence against rival drug trafficking groups during conflicts for control over drug plazas and trafficking routes. Gonzalez-Duran was personally responsible for the importation into the United States of more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90,000 kilograms of marijuana.

Gonzalez-Duran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States from Mexico. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Field Division made the announcement.

The DEA Houston Field Division investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and October 2022 extradition of Gonzalez Duran.

Trial Attorneys Tara Arndt and Jayce Born and Acting Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.

The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strength of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Colorado dentist pleaded guilty today to six counts of tax evasion related to his use of an illegal tax shelter.

According to court documents and statements made in court, since 2014, Ryan Ulibarri owned and operated Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2016, Ulibarri purchased an abusive-trust tax shelter for $50,000. The tax shelter involved concealing income and creating false tax deductions through the use of a so-called business trust, family trust, charitable trust and a private family foundation, all of which Ulibarri created and controlled. From 2017 through 2022, Ulibarri used this tax shelter to conceal from the IRS over $3.5 million in income he earned from his dental practice.

To set up the tax shelter, Ulibarri, as the purported trustee, signed trust instruments purporting to create the three trusts and foundation, and he opened bank accounts in the name of each. He further recruited friends to falsely sign his trust instruments as the purported creators of the trusts. Ulibarri then transferred majority ownership of his dental practice to the business trust. Ulibarri did this despite having been warned by attorneys and CPAs that, in Colorado, a trust could not own a dental practice.

He then transferred over $3 million he earned from his dental practice into the bank accounts of the various trusts and foundation to create the illusion that the funds belonged to those entities. In reality, Ulibarri retained complete control over the funds and used the funds to pay for personal expenses including his home mortgage, credit card bills, boats and professional baseball season tickets. Finally, he filed false tax returns for himself, his dental practice, the trusts and foundation that falsely reported the income he earned from his dental practice as income of the trusts. On those tax returns Ulibarri also claimed fraudulent deductions for his personal living expenses which he disguised as trust expenses and charitable donations.

In total, Ulibarri is alleged to have caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $1 million.

Ulibarri is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Special Agent in Charge Amanda Prestegard of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Denver Field Office made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Amanda R. Scott and Lauren K. Pope and Assistant Chief Andrew J. Kameros of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan was arrested yesterday and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, in December 2024, Hassan attempted to travel from Minnesota to Somalia to join ISIS on two occasions, neither of which were successful. Hassan attempted to disguise the purpose of his travel as visiting family despite having none in Somalia and was traveling with his birth certificate, naturalization certificate, and high school diploma. The FBI’s investigation established that Hassan publicly supported ISIS on social media through multiple posts and communicated with a Facebook account for the Manjaniq Media Center, which encouraged individuals to travel to join ISIS and touts itself as a media organization of the Islamic Caliphate. The investigation further revealed that Hassan praised Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the perpetrator of the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Jan. 1. On Feb. 21, Hassan also posted a video of himself driving while holding a small ISIS flag inside the vehicle, as well as another video of himself driving with an open knife on his lap. On Feb. 26, FBI observed Hassan driving while again holding the ISIS flag.

Hassan was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. He made his initial appearance in the District of Minnesota today and was ordered to remain in custody pending a formal detention hearing which will take place at a later date.

The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar for the District of Minnesota and Trial Attorneys Ryan White and Charles Kovats Jr. of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law