ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jerry Twaddle, 40, of Carlsbad, New Mexico, was sentenced on Sept. 9 in federal court to 20 years in prison on drug trafficking charges. On Feb. 6, 2019, a jury found Twaddle guilty on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, using a communication facility (telephone)...

WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General William P. Barr and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea announced the results of Operation Crystal Shield, DEA’s six-month-long effort targeting the command and control elements of Mexican cartels that operate major methamphetamine “transportation hubs” in the United States. At a press conference...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A federal judge sentenced Chase Smothermon, 32, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to 45 years in prison for abducting and assaulting two men, one of whom was tortured, killed, and mutilated. Smothermon suspected the victims of stealing drugs and money from his home. On Jan. 24, Smothermon pleaded...

DALLAS - DEA announced that a four-person cabal has been charged with plotting to arrange a murder-for-hire on a DEA task force officer. A federal grand jury indicted Manual Garcia Gomez, 22, Jorge Humberto Velazco Larios, 27, Eva Denisse Gomez Garcia, 38, and Alicia Yuritzi Juarez Martinez, 31, for conspiracy...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The DEA Dallas Field Division in partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced the sentencing of Muskogee residents, Derrick Christopher Segue, age 26, to 65 months imprisonment and three years supervised release, and Klawaun Lynell Sutton a/k/a “O.G.G.,” 38, to...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mariah Ferry, 22, of Albuquerque, New Mexico was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, New Mexico to 30 years in prison on charges related to the kidnappings and brutal assaults of two victims suspected of stealing drugs and money from the home of co-defendant, Chase...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The DEA Dallas Field Division and United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that seven defendants, primarily residents of Pittsburg, Le Flore, and Sequoyah Counties, have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to...

DALLAS - A Dallas doctor has pleaded guilty to a felony for prescription drug diversion crimes perpetrated on elderly victims, announced Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division and U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. Dr. Edward Agura, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge...

TEXARKANA, Texas – A 48-year-old New Boston, Texas, man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced DEA Dallas Division Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez and U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox today. Armando Moya was found guilty on Oct...

DALLAS - On Tuesday, demolition crews began razing Han Gil Hotel Town, the drug-infested Dallas motel at the center of a 23-defendant drug trafficking probe, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division Eduardo A. Chávez and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy...