The Justice Department (DOJ) announced last week that a taskforce of federal law enforcement seized Hydra Market—the world’s largest and longest-running darknet exchange.

Federal prosecutors allege Emiliano Rodriguez fraudulently imported counterfeit airbags from China and installed them into used vehicles for resale, defrauding customers from 2017 into 2019.

The pillars of human trafficking are force, fraud, and coercion. Defined as modern slavery, human trafficking happens everywhere, and victims can be any nationality, age, socioeconomic status, or gender.

After pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography, James Catoe, age 48, was sentenced to 210 months in prison followed by life on supervised release.

Human rights violations of the past and present remain a priority for federal law enforcement. A panel of guests from the Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (Human Rights Center) discuss the various disciplines that form the center, the resources at their disposal to safeguard human rights and thwart war crimes, and their work to prevent these crimes domestically and abroad.

According to a Department of Justice press release from April 28, 2021, a North Carolina man pleaded guilty to production of child pornography. Raul Ayala Jr., 72, admitted to molesting minors going as far back as the 1970s. Following this admission, police executed a warrant to search Ayala’s home, where they found child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on multiple digital devices.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, an Indian national, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and general conspiracy to commit identification fraud, access device fraud, money laundering, and impersonation of a federal officer or employee.

From the Oval Office last week, President Donald J. Trump announced the conclusion of a multi-year investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that led to the takedown of 17 members of the MS-13 gang. These arrests took place in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with the assistance of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). During this bust, HSI seized five pounds of methamphetamine, $28,000 in cash, and 14 firearms. Gang members were charged on 21 counts, including a violation of the Kingpin statute and transporting large quantities of methamphetamine from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.