SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division highlights significant prosecutorial results achieved through the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) during the week of September 14 through September 18, 2026, including multiple guilty pleas and federal prison sentences involving cocaine importation, drug trafficking organizations, and firearms...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division highlights the latest prosecutorial results achieved through the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) in Puerto Rico, demonstrating the continued impact of coordinated federal, state, and local efforts against drug trafficking and other criminal organizations. During the week of...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division, working alongside its Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners, announces federal charges against 17 individuals allegedly involved in a drug trafficking organization that used the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and the U.S. mail system to transport cocaine...

FRESNO, Calif. — Three individuals were charged today following a multi‑agency investigation that dismantled a clandestine methamphetamine conversion laboratory in Terra Bella, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. Jose Diarte-Perez, 46, and Carlos Beltran-Ochoa, 27, both from Mexico and illegally...

SAN FRANCISCO- In June, DEA San Francisco Field Division and detectives with Marin County Sheriff’s Department Specialized Investigative Unit (SIU), began a narcotics investigation into Ian Howerton, 31, of San Francisco. During the investigation, undercover detectives conducted controlled purchases which included the sale of Cocaine and Ketamine from Howerton in...

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...

OAKLAND – Joel Dowen was sentenced to eighteen years in federal prison on August 7, 2026, for engaging in a violent extortion scheme, shooting at a federal officer, drug dealing, and bank fraud. Co-defendant Micah-Luc Almeida was sentenced to three years in federal prison for conspiring to deal drugs with...

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...

OAKLAND – The government of Mexico recently deported Julio Palafox, a United States citizen, to the United States where he was arrested by the United States Marshals on a warrant to appear on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the distribution of methamphetamine in the Bay Area. U.S. Marshals...