ATLANTA - Edgar Valdez-Villareal, 42, also known as “La Barbie,” who was born in the United States and rose to be a high-level leader of Mexico's Beltran-Leyva Cartel, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of cocaine importation and distribution, and money laundering. “Since 2004, Edgar Valdez-Villarreal was responsible for the distribution...

SAN DIEGO - This morning, the DEA San Diego Field Division’s Narcotics Task (NTF) along with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Health Advocates Rejecting Marijuana, (HARM) announce the total amount of illegal marijuana plants seized in San Diego County in 2015. During calendar year 2015, NTF and our...

STATESVILLE, N.C. - Nine methamphetamine traffickers have been sentenced over a two-day period to prison terms ranging from one to 17.5 years, as a result of two related Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigations, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. Attorney...

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - On Nov. 30, 2015, Daniel Guy Bickley, 56, of Bristol, Va., was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 24 months in federal prison. Bickley was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term and forfeit...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Daniel Sands was arrested and charged on Nov. 20, in a criminal complaint with engaging in conduct with the intent to retaliate against a witness who testified against his father in an official court proceeding in U.S. District Court. An initial appearance was held this afternoon before...

SAN DIEGO - Drug Enforcement (DEA) San Diego Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman and United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that a group of San Diego pharmacies and their owners have paid $750,000 to the federal government to resolve allegations that they mishandled significant amounts of highly...

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Between Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, 2015, four more individuals involved in an extensive a-(alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone) distribution conspiracy centered in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia and western North Carolina, were sentenced to serve time in federal prison by the Honorable Pamela L. Reeves, U.S. District Court Judge. Melissa Carol...

STATESVILLE, N.C. - A federal jury sitting in Statesville delivered a guilty verdict against Eduardo Trejo-Munoz, a/k/a “Lalo,” 23, of Hickory, N.C., for trafficking high purity crystal methamphetamine worth over $5 million, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Following a two-day trial which...

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Tunnel Task Force seized control of a sophisticated cross-border super tunnel last night following a six-month investigation that resulted in the arrests of 22 people in San Diego and Tijuana and the confiscation of 12 tons of marijuana. The tunnel, approximately eight football fields...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Alberto Gasca, 31, of Los Angeles, California, to serve 128 months in prison and five years of supervised release on drug trafficking charges, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Gasca pleaded guilty...