Extensive coordination and cooperation between US and Brazilian law enforcement and prosecution authorities culminated Wednesday in a major enforcement operation to dismantle a transnational criminal organization accused of illegally smuggling hundreds of people from Brazil to the United States.
The enforcement operation included the arrest of a previously convicted alien smuggler who reportedly re-entered the United States illegally after being deported to Brazil and was living unlawfully in Worcester. The Brazilian Federal Police (PF) executed several search warrants in Brazil and apprehended an accused people smuggler.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Flavio Alexandre Alves, also known as “Ronaldo,” 41, in Worcester on a criminal complaint charging him with conspiracy to bring and transport aliens within the United States for commercial or financial gain in violation of the law. Alves appeared in federal court in Worcester the same day he was arrested.
According to court records, Alves collaborated with others to transport immigrants from Brazil to Mexico and ultimately to the United States. After the aliens landed in the United States, Alves allegedly purchased airline tickets for them to other U.S. destinations. Alves also allegedly transported money from the United States to aliens and smugglers in Mexico to cover transit expenses and collected fees from aliens who were smuggled into the United States. Alves allegedly had been convicted of human smuggling in the Central District of California in 2004 and deported to Brazil in February 2005. Court filings show that Alves has been living in the United States without an immigration status since illegally re-entering the country.
It is alleged that between May 2021 and August 2022, Alves purchased over 100 individual plane tickets from Tucson or Phoenix to destinations in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Some of these transactions were made for migrants who had recently interacted with US Customs and Border Protection authorities or were just released from custody. Massachusetts Tourism
Additionally, ICE Homeland Security Investigations offices in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia, assisted by partner law enforcement agencies, detained four persons affiliated with the alien smuggling enterprise for administrative immigration offenses.
Alves’ investigation and arrest were handled by Joint Task Force Alpha and the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program. The attorney general has elevated and expanded JTFA, a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, with a mandate to target cartels and transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia that threaten public safety and border security. So far, JTFA’s efforts have resulted in more than 355 domestic and foreign arrests of alien smuggling leaders, organizers, and important facilitators; more than 315 U.S. convictions; more than 260 significant jail sentences imposed; and the forfeiture of considerable assets.
The ECT program, a collaboration between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and ICE HSI, focuses on human smuggling networks that may pose national security, public safety, or serious humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigation, intelligence, and prosecution resources. ECT also works with and gets cooperation from other US federal agencies and overseas law enforcement entities.
ICE HSI New England spearheaded U.S. investigations, collaborating with the ICE HSI Attaché Brasilia, ICE HSI Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and the ICE HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., with significant assistance from CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs was extremely helpful in this situation.
A criminal complaint is simply an allegation. The defendant is deemed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
