AUGUSTA, Ga. – Eight people have been charged in a 13-count federal indictment in a drug trafficking conspiracy that brought large amounts of narcotics from Atlanta for distribution in the Augusta area. The indictments stem from a two-year joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Richmond County Sheriff’s Office...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Oscar Orlando Navarro-Melendez, 31, a Honduran national residing in Asheville, N.C. to 135 months in prison and five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North...

Rome, Ga. – Atlanta-area doctor Victor Hanson and former professional football player Sedrick Hodge have been indicted with two other individuals for illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including opioids. “Americans rely on healthcare providers, many of them medical doctors, to use their training to help patients and to ‘do no...

ATLANTA - Francisco Castaneda Rivera has been sentenced to federal prison for transporting 4.24 kilograms of heroin, hidden inside a car battery, from Texas to the Atlanta-area. Robert J. Murphy, special agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said, “Drug traffickers like Castaneda Rivera often take extreme measures...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The United States Drug Enforcement Administration this week announced the conclusion of Operation Crystal Mountain, a sweeping enforcement action spanning three states. DEA special agents, working closely with their state and local counterparts throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia targeted Mexican drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and...

WAYCROSS, Ga. -- Two drug traffickers, including an illegal alien with ties to a Mexican drug cartel, will spend more than a decade in federal prison after sentencing in a methamphetamine conspiracy. Ricardo Santana-Hernandez, a/k/a “Richard Hernandez,” a/k/a “Armond,” a/k/a “Armani,” 32, of C’daltimairano, Guerroro, Mexico, was sentenced to 135...

ROME, Ga. - Daniel Landa-Duerta, Mauricio Dominguez-Vazquez, and Jorge Armando Avalos-Menera have been arraigned on federal charges related to methamphetamine seized from a conversion laboratory in Dallas, Georgia. “The cocktail of deadly chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine are a recipe for disaster,” said Special Agent in Charge of the DEA...

ATLANTA – Coleman Warnock and Adrian Banks have been sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to manufacture and possess phencyclidine, a psychedelic controlled substance commonly known as “PCP” and “angel dust,” with intent to distribute. The concealed drug lab they operated in Fulton County exploded in July 2013, and burned...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The United States Drug Enforcement Administration would like to remind people that, aside from the obvious legal jeopardy, purchasing prescription drugs over the internet comes with inherent dangers. D. Christopher Evans, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Louisville Field Division, warns that a current investigation into on-line...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Two heroin traffickers have been sentenced to federal prison after admitting to their roles in a major drug distribution conspiracy. Gary Johnson, aka “G,” 44, of Savannah, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison, while Jamison Lanier, aka “Monica Lewinsky,” 36, also of Savannah, was sentenced...