Overview
- Roughly 200 federal, state and local officers executed an Oct. 19 operation at La Catedral Arena targeting an alleged unlicensed parimutuel horse-betting scheme, with the FBI saying the investigation continues.
- A federal complaint filed Oct. 15 alleges owner Ivan Tellez ran an illegal gambling business without a parimutuel license, exposing him to potential prison time, fines and supervised release.
- Four people were arrested at the venue—Ivan Tellez, Samuel Bejarano, Dayana Fajardo and Alejandro Estrada—and a fifth, Cesar Orozco, was taken into custody Monday in Meridian.
- ICE reports 105 people without legal status were arrested for immigration processing during the operation, and attorneys say some detainees were later released in the area.
- Eyewitnesses and the ACLU report children were restrained and rubber bullets were used, while the FBI says ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations role was limited to processing potential immigration violations.