Eight Arrested, Accused of Drug, Gun Conspiracy and Illegal Re-Entry Charges in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation

ST. LOUIS - Eight people, including six who entered the country illegally, were arrested Wednesday on charges including trafficking in firearms and cocaine.

The eight are:

• Ivan Said Henriquez-Corea, 34, of St. Louis.
• Jose Edwardo Maldonado-Vargas, 21, a.k.a. Oscar Rodriguez-Lopez, of St. Louis County.
• Manuel DeJesus Hernandez-Maldonado, 47, of St. Louis.
• Heber Marcelino Figueroa-Bardales, 27, of St. Louis.
• Edgar Cruz-Ramirez, 36, of St. Louis County.
• Thomas Allen Hull, 37, of Eureka.
• Maria Amabil Hernandez, 49, of St. Louis.
• Joan Hurtado-Jimenez, 31, of Maryland Heights.

Henriquez-Corea, Maldonado-Vargas, Hernandez-Maldonado and Hernandez face charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine and multiple counts of distributing cocaine. Henriquez-Corea, Cruz-Ramirez, Figueroa-Bardales and Hull are accused in the indictment of one count of conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms and one count of conspiracy to purchase firearms for illegal aliens. Henriquez-Corea and Figueroa-Bardales face charges of possessing a firearm as an illegal alien and Maldonado-Vargas has been charged with possession of a short-barreled rifle. Figueroa-Bardales and Hurtado-Jimenez each face one count of illegal re-entry to the United States.

The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of seven pistols and five AR-style firearms that were seized during the investigation.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A motion seeking to have Henriquez-Corea held in jail until trial says that the sale of cocaine and at least six firearms transactions between late 2025 and March were monitored and/or recorded by the FBI. Some of the gun sales involved AR-style pistols with high-capacity magazines. Cruz-Ramirez obtained guns from a straw purchaser and sold them to a co-conspirator who is in the country illegally, who sold them to others, his detention motion says. Henriquez-Corea, Hernandez-Maldonado, Hernandez, Figueroa-Bardales and Cruz-Ramirez are originally from Honduras and entered the country illegally, detention motions say. Maldonado-Vargas is also from Honduras but is a lawful permanent resident. Jimenez is from Mexico and is in the country illegally.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF St. Louis comprises agents and officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Untied States Marshal Service (USMS); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.