A federal grand jury in Virginia indicted almost two dozen alleged members of a Mexico-based fraudulent document trafficking group, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The 22 individuals from 11 states, including Virginia, allegedly created high-quality fake identification cards for illegal immigrants. They are accused of committing murder, beatings, kidnappings and other criminal acts to keep competitors away and discipline group members. The organization usually sold the fake identification cards for between $150 and $200 and wired more than $1 million to Mexico from January 2008 to November 2010, according to the indictment.

Neil MacBride (Main Justice)

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Director John Morton of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the indictment at a news conference in Richmond, Va.

“[T]his is a chilling indictment, accusing this criminal enterprise of using brutal violence to corner the fraudulent document business in 19 cities across 11 states, including cells in Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Manassas, Va.,” MacBride said in his prepared remarks.

The indictment includes allegations against Edy Olivarez-Jimenezin, who is accused of murdering a competitor in Little Rock, Ark., in July. The rival was allegedly lured into an abandoned trailer home and had his feet, hands, eyes and mouth bound with duct tape before he was beaten to death.

Allegations against group leader Israel Cruz Millan, who was known as “El Muerto” or “Death,” also are detailed in the indictment. He is accused of beating a member of his group who stole from him. Members of the organization on a conference call with Cruz Millan in October heard screams as the group leader beat the man, according to the indictment.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Gill of the Eastern District of Virginia and Angela Miller of the Middle District of North Carolina, along with Trial Attorney Addison Thompson of the Justice Department Criminal Division Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, are handling the prosecution.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have created an FBI-led task force to investigate shootings linked to a Mexican drug gang that left one U.S. immigration agent dead and another injured in Mexico on Tuesday.

Jaime Zapata

Holder and Napolitano made the announcement Wednesday after meeting to discuss the attack on Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata, who was killed, and a law enforcement official who was briefly hospitalized after being shot in the leg.

“This was an intentional ambush against two United States federal agents,” he said in a statement. “This tragic event is a game changer. The United States will not tolerate acts of violence against its citizens or law enforcement and I believe we must respond forcefully.”

Officials have not released the name of the ICE agent who was injured in the attack. But the Associated Press has identified him as Victor Avila.

“The murder of Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the shooting of another ICE agent provide a sad reminder of the dangers American law enforcement officers face every day,” Holder said in a statement. “Working with our Mexican counterparts, we have already launched an aggressive investigation, and this joint task force will ensure that every available resource is used to bring the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice.”

The shooting happened in north-central Mexico as the agents traveled from Mexico City to Monterrey on a major highway in their blue Suburban vehicle, the AP said. The assailants are unknown, according to the Justice Department.

Napolitano said the shooting was the highest-profile attack on U.S. law enforcement officials in Mexico since Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was tortured and killed in 1985, according to the AP.

Andrew Ramonas contributed reporting.

Two prosecutors in the Hawaii U.S. Attorney’s Office are blasting the nomination of their former boss to a state court judgeship, The Honolulu Advertiser reported today. But the negative letters were only a fraction of what the Judiciary panel received on the Kubo nomination. The committee received a “near-avalanche” of letters in support of Kubo, the newspaper said.

Ed Kubo Jr. (Hawaii.gov)

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Muehleck and Mark Inciong submitted critical letters to the state Senate’s Judiciary and Government Operations Committee, which is considering former U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo for a seat on Hawaii’d First Circuit Court, the newspaper said. Kubo, who was tapped for the judgeship earlier this month, served as U.S. Attorney from 2001 until the end of September, when Florence Nakakuni, President Barack Obama’s choice for U.S. Attorney, was sworn in.

“I can say without reservation that in my opinion Mr. Kubo is not qualified to serve as a judge,” Muehleck wrote, according to The Advertiser.

Kubo dismissed Muehleck after the prosecutor allegedly threatened Kubo, the then-U.S. Attorney, in 2008 over losing an assigned parking space, according to the newspaper. Muehleck, a narcotics prosecutor, learned that he lost his parking space after he returned from a year-long Army deployment to Iraq, The Advertiser said.

“If I had a hand grenade now I would frag him,” Muehleck allegedly said at the time, according to the newspaper. The prosecutor has since been reinstated, The Advertiser said.

Inciong, who was described as a friend of Muehleck, criticized Kubo for a March 2009 friend of the court brief which, the Assistant U.S. Attorney said, improperly eased a restraining order against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, according to the newspaper. Ex-ICE agent Jonathan Winnop allegedly seriously hurt and threatened to kill his former girlfriend, ICE Special Agent Evelyn Delos Reyes Ramo, The Advertiser said.

“It is ironic, to say the least, that if Mr. Kubo would be appointed to the bench it is my understanding that he would begin at the Family Court, a place where, less than a year ago, he attempted to intervene on behalf of a domestic batterer,” Inciong wrote.

Kubo declined to comment to The Advertiser on the letters. The state Senate panel will continue its hearing on the Kubo nomination on Thursday.

Another Colorado Republican is expressing concern about whether the state’s U.S. Attorney nominee inappropriately used state resources to help her boss during his successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign, The Denver Post reported Saturday.

State GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has joined former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) in questioning whether Stephanie Villafuerte used a restricted government database for political purposes, which could be a crime, according to the newspaper.

Stephanie Villafuerte (gov)

Villafuerte, who is the deputy chief of staff to Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, has declined to comment to The Post.

The issue centers on discussions she had with staffers in the Denver district attorney’s office about an illegal immigrant who was featured in an ad against Ritter produced by Republican Bob Beauprez’s gubernatorial campaign. She told the FBI in 2007 that she had “no conversations” with the DA employees about Carlos Estrada-Medina, who is also an alleged heroin dealer. Estrada-Median had once obtained a plea deal under the allias of Walter Ramo when Ritter was Denver’s district attorney, according to The Post.

Republicans charge that Villafuerte is being treated differently in the matter than a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent named Cory Voorhis, who lost his job after accessing the same database on behalf of the Beauprez campaign.

“It is time for Stephanie Villafuerte and her boss, Bill Ritter, to finally come clean on possible inappropriate behavior during their efforts to smear ICE agent Cory Voorhis,” Wadhams told The Post.

Voorhis was charged in 2007 with using the National Crime Information Center database to look into Estrada-Medina/Ramo on behalf of the Beauprez campaign for its ad, according to the newspaper. Voorhis said he was authorized to use the database by his supervisor, The Post said. He was later acquitted by a federal jury.

“As the U.S. Attorney, will Stephanie Villafuerte offer help in investigating the corruption, perjury and malfeasance rampant in the Denver regional office of ICE?,” Tancredo, a fierce opponent of illegal immigration, said earlier this month. “Will she be an advocate for the effective enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws after participating in the disgusting vendetta against ICE agent Cory Voorhis? The answer to those questions is probably … no se puede.”

The Post said the Obama White House continues to stand behind its nominee, who was tapped Sept. 30. Villafuerte would replace acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado David Gaouette, who has been in the position since Bush appointee Troy Eid resigned in January.

The Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are engaging in increased information-sharing to combat organized crime, the department announced today.

David Ogden (usdoj)

In two memorandums signed last week, DOJ and ICE agreed that the latter component, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, would become an active participant in two major law enforcement efforts —  the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2).

Officials said the coordination would allow law enforcement agencies to “de-conflict” their investigations, or reduce duplicative efforts and limit turf battles. An ICE spokesman said the memorandums were law-enforcement sensitive and not releasable to the public.

From the joint DOJ/ICE news release:

By becoming an active participate in the OCDETF Fusion Center as outlined in one MOU, ICE will be adding more than 25 million records, including reports of investigation, wiretap intercept information and financial investigative material, from its drug-related investigations and drug-related financial investigations to the Fusion Center. ICE will also gain access to the additional agency information available through the Fusion Center. This increased partnership will further help in the joint fight against drug trafficking organizations by all of the other Fusion Center agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Similarly, ICE’s membership in IOC-2 will allow all the partner agencies to draw on its resources and collaborate on investigations that may be targeting the same syndicates. The memorandums follow agreements betwen ICE and the DEA and ICE and the ATF.

“By bringing together the agencies and personnel with existing resources and expertise we can work more effectively as partners to shut down organized crime networks, seize assets and save taxpayer dollars in the process,” said Deputy Attorney General David Ogden in statement announcing the partnership. “This agreement, coupled with recent agreements between ICE, DEA and ATF will allow new levels of cooperation and intelligence sharing.”

You know how a big brother picks on a middle brother, causing the middle brother to bully the little brother? The Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Administration — always in the shadow of the FBI – has been throwing its weight around with the still-fledgling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency over the red-hot Mexican narco-trafficking problem, members of Congress who conduct DHS oversight have been complaining.

But now U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have announced an agreement that will allow all the drug agents to live in harmony, and focus their firepower instead on the violent Mexican cartels.

Poor ICE. It was cobbled together from the old INS and parts of the Treasury Department after 9/11, given this ridiculous Miami Vice name, and banished to the often dysfunctional DHS. It can use a helping hand.

Read the official statement below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 18, 2009                                         

JOINT STATEMENT BY SECRETARY NAPOLITANO AND ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER ON TODAY’S SIGNING OF A DEA-ICE DRUG TRAFFICKING ENFORCEMENT AGREEMENT

“Moving past old disputes and ensuring cooperation between all levels of our Departments has been one of our top priorities since taking office. Today’s agreement reflects our commitment to working together to protect the American people from violence and criminal activity along our borders.

Ultimately, this agreement allows us to utilize the full range of the federal government‘s capabilities to disrupt and dismantle drug cartels and other criminal organizations that seek to infiltrate our borders.

Giving ICE agents the authority to investigate drug trafficking cases, enhancing information sharing capabilities between ICE and the DEA, and ensuring full participation in intelligence centers will strengthen our efforts to combat international narcotics smuggling, streamline operations and bring better intelligence to our front line personnel.”

###

The Justice Department will launch a center  that will bring together more than a dozen government groups to fight international crime, Attorney General Eric Holder said today in Rome at the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial.

The International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center will enable these agencies to meet together and more effectively coordinate international criminal prosecutions, according to a DOJ statement.

“The globalization of criminal networks and advances in technology have made international criminal organizations a significant threat to the safety and security of our nation,” Holder said in the statement.  “But we are answering that threat by developing a 21st century organized crime program that will be nimble and sophisticated enough to combat the danger posed by these criminals for years to come.  [The center] gives us the capacity to collect, synthesize and disseminate information and intelligence from multiple sources to enable federal law enforcement to prioritize and target the individuals and organizations that pose the greatest international organized crime threat to the United States.”

The center will bring together:  the FBI; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security; Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; the Justice Department, Criminal Division;  the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Treasury Department, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

At the G8 meeting, Holder also highlighted the necessity for collaboration between U.S. and foreign law enforcement, according to the Justice Department.

“He noted that the creation of (the center) demonstrates the United States’ commitment to addressing international organized crime issues and will make the United States a more effective partner for joint investigations and prosecutions,” the DOJ statement said in the statement.