Six inmates at Wallens Ridge State Prison in Virginia stabbed three correctional officers in a violent attack. Five of the six attackers were confirmed MS-13 gang members from El Salvador who are in the country illegally, with prior convictions for serious crimes including murder and rape.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in partnership with the DEA, ATF, and State Department Diplomatic Security Service, arrested three individuals during operations in Northern Virginia on April 21, 2025. The arrests included a Salvadoran national with prior drug convictions, a Liberian national wanted for documents fraud, and a second Salvadoran alien already in removal proceedings.
A federal judge dismissed criminal charges against Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, a 24-year-old from El Salvador described by the DOJ as an MS-13 leader on the East Coast. The dismissal clears the path for his deportation rather than criminal prosecution, though his attorney has filed legal challenges arguing the government violated his due process rights.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested two men in Arlington, Virginia on felony charges. Francisco Reyes-Ramirez, from El Salvador, faced drug possession and distribution charges, while Enrique Montes Flores-Espana, from Guatemala, was charged with consensual sex with a minor and proposing sex with a minor online after reentering the U.S. following previous deportations.
Jose Velasquez-Martinez, a 27-year-old undocumented Salvadoran national, was arrested and charged with murdering Branden Probst, a 29-year-old father of two, in Fauquier County, Virginia. Authorities say the two men got into an altercation outside a residence during which Velasquez-Martinez allegedly stabbed Probst in the neck. ICE confirmed Velasquez-Martinez entered the country illegally in 2011.
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced a collaboration with federal immigration officials that resulted in the apprehension of 521 violent undocumented immigrants, approximately 132 of whom are identified gang members. The initiative deployed over 200 federal officers working alongside state resources, with Youngkin describing it as "the national model" for coordinating immigration enforcement efforts.
Two Indian brothers, Avanish Kumar Jha (39) and Rajnish Kumar Jha (36), were each sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for operating a scheme to distribute counterfeit and adulterated pharmaceutical drugs throughout the United States. The investigation revealed they were selling fake cancer medication labeled as Keytruda that contained none of the active ingredient, instead substituting it with over-the-counter heartburn medicine. The brothers shipped the counterfeit and adulterated drugs from India using intermediaries and deceptive packaging to evade customs detection, and were each fined $50,000 in addition to their prison terms.
Jose Efrain Gonzalez-Rodriguez, a 24-year-old Mexican national, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for drug trafficking and firearm charges in the Eastern District of Washington. He was caught first with nearly two pounds of methamphetamine and over 6,800 fentanyl pills during a vehicle search, and a subsequent search of his Spokane apartment yielded an additional 84 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 59,000 fentanyl pills, cocaine, heroin, and four pistols — two of them stolen. Gonzalez-Rodriguez was working for a drug trafficking organization operating out of Mexico and transporting narcotics from California to Spokane for distribution.
Victor Vivanco-Reyes, a Mexican national illegally residing in Stanwood, Washington, was charged with four felony counts of assaulting federal officers with a deadly weapon after he allegedly rammed his truck and trailer into Homeland Security Investigations vehicles during an arrest attempt on Camano Island in June 2025. Vivanco-Reyes had previously fled from agents in May 2025 when they attempted to execute an immigration arrest warrant, and his prior record included a drive-by shooting conviction. The case was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller and prosecuted by the Western District of Washington.
Rajat Rajat, a 27-year-old Indian citizen residing in Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five months in prison for conspiracy to bring in and transport certain aliens for profit. He served as a mid-level manager in a human smuggling operation, directing noncitizens on how to cross the U.S.-Canada border near Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Washington, and paying co-conspirators for their roles in the November and December 2023 smuggling episodes. U.S. District Judge Tana Lin noted that Rajat played a critical role in arranging travel and paying co-conspirators, and ordered three years of supervised release to follow his prison term.
