SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Today in Puerto Rico, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that 81 members of a violent drug trafficking organization have been charged federally following a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation. The FBI and the Puerto Rico Police Department successfully led the takedown and arrest yesterday...

MIAMI – Five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into South Florida aboard sport fishing vessels from the Dominican Republic. According to court records, Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, 32; Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, 32; Keisy Estibet Peguero, 38; Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera, 32; and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez...

MIAMI – Ten defendants have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a South Florida cocaine trafficking conspiracy that involved cocaine supplied by a Mexican drug cartel and others. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles sentenced Reinaldo Fernandez, 63, to 188 months in federal prison; Javier Garcia-Mora, 40...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, Héctor Ramírez-Carbó, Acting United States Attorney, in conjunction with our partner agencies in the Homeland Security Task Force (“HSTF”) announce the following prosecutorial results for the week of August 10 through August 14, 2026...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – José Julio Rodríguez-Cumba, also known as “Chambi,” “Chembi,” “Josué,” “Chambo,” and “Patrón,” was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Pedro A. Delgado to 360 months (30 years) in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for operating a continuing criminal enterprise responsible for...

Jacksonville, Fla. – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 defendants—all alleged members and associates of the Slime gang—with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and retaliating against a witness. Slime was primarily active in the Northside...

Pensacola, Fla. – Arzalea Teshean McLaughlin, 37, Benjamin Eugene Mack, 54, and Roger Cornell Daniels, 38, all of Crestview, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and cocaine base, conspiracy to unlawfully use...

Pensacola, Florida – Jovon “Playa Pat” Booker, 33, of Pensacola, Florida, was convicted by a jury in federal court on one count of discharging a handgun in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and a separate count of possessing firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Prior to the...

Ocala, Fla. – United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Billy Boortz (43, Duval Couty, Texas) to five years in federal prison for possession of five grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. According to the...

Ocala, Fla. – Phillip Washington, III a/k/a “Lil’ Phil” (33, Marion County) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber to 20 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Washington was found...