SEATTLE - The largest volume used car dealership in Washington, pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for failure to file a monetary transaction report. Zein Automobiles, Inc., d/b/a Independence Auto Sales and Best Bet Auto Sales with locations in Lynnwood and Everett, forfeited $1.5...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Five residents of Santa Fe, N.M., were arrested earlier today based on a 16-count federal indictment charging them with Oxycodone trafficking offenses. Two other Santa Fe residents were arrested on federal marijuana trafficking charges and another individual was arrested on state narcotics trafficking charges. The arrests were...

EL PASO, Texas - In El Paso this morning, U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo sentenced 25-year-old Julio Adrian Pesqueira-Galaviz, to the statutory maximum of 15 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his leadership role in a scheme to illegally purchase firearms in the U.S...

EL PASO, Texas - Thirty-three individuals have been arrested in El Paso for prescription fraud-related offenses, announced Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the Drug Enforcement Administration'(DEA) El Paso Field Division, Regional Commander Carey Matthews of the Texas Department of Public (DPS) and 34th Judicial District (DA) Jaime...

BOISE, Idaho - Five Mexican nationals were arrested last week by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service in connection with a large marijuana growing operation on public lands. According to the criminal complaints filed, Juan Pablo Villasenor-Villa, 28, Marcos Solano-Farias, 30, Carlos Cerda-Carpio, 40...

SEATTLE - Early this morning, federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested a resident of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood who had repeatedly sold marijuana to middle and high school students. On September 13, 2013, Alejandro Antonio Castillo, 51, was charged by a criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, two...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Joshua Mustovich, 31, from Fairbanks, Alaska, was sentenced on September 6, 2013, in U.S. District Court to 87 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. Mustovich had previously pled guilty to count one of an indictment charging him with drug conspiracy. In January 2012, Mustovich...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - On August 30, 2013, four Anchorage men were indicted for drug conspiracy, kidnapping, and using firearms in furtherance of these crimes. The four men indicted are as follows: Stuart T. Seugasala, a/k/a "Tone", age 38; Phosavan Khamnivong, a/k/a "P.K.", age 33, Timothy Miller, a/k/a "Lil' Tone", age...

SEATTLE - A drug trafficker who came to the attention of law enforcement after his roommate was shot and killed in November 2012, was sentenced on August 27, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Juan Hidalgo-Mendoza, 33, of...

EL PASO, Texas - In El Paso, 36-year-old Manuel Gerardo (aka “Shorty”), an El Paso cell ringleader for the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug trafficking organization, will remain in federal custody pending trial for allegedly operating a Continuing Criminal (CCE) responsible for the smuggling and distribution of more than 1,000 kilograms...