NEW YORK – United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) New York Division Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, and New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, announced today the unsealing of charges against...

MIDLAND, Texas – A former ranking member of the Texas Mexican Mafia was sentenced in federal court in Midland to 180 months in prison for six counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. According to court documents, Paul Lujan, 42, of Odessa, was a well-known gang member who had...

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thirteen people have been charged and arrested for their roles in a New York City-based drug trafficking ring, with federal agents seizing nearly 500 kilos of cocaine. The announcement was made by Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge, New York Division, Drug Enforcement Administration...

ALBUQUERQUE – A Texas woman is facing federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her vehicle during a checkpoint inspection south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. According to court documents, on the afternoon of June 16, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Aurelia...

MIDLAND, Texas – A Mexican national unlawfully residing in Texas was sentenced Thursday to life in federal prison for his criminal actions as the leader of a drug trafficking organization tied to a Mexican cartel. According to court documents, Jose Ramon Castillo-Lopez aka “Pepo,” 30, of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico, supplied...

A long-term wiretap investigation resulted in the arrest of a Brooklyn man and netted over 39 kilograms (more than 85 pounds) of cocaine and fentanyl, eight loaded firearms, and approximately $420,000 cash from the defendant’s car, which was parked outside of a residential building he owns at 151 Leonard Street...

As part of an ongoing investigation into fentanyl/heroin trafficking in New York City, federal, state and local law enforcement officers recovered over 13 pounds of drug mixtures, including fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, methamphetamine, and cocaine, from inside a packaging mill. The drugs are estimated to carry a street value of over...

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshal Service, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Doña Ana Sheriff’s Office, conducted a coordinated operation to dismantle a significant drug trafficking network in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The operation targeted 15...

ALBUQUERQUE – Five members of a drug trafficking organization based in Albuquerque have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Tomas Rubalcaba, 45, Joaquin Rubalcada, 40, and Humberto Gastelum, 65, appeared before a federal judge last week and will remain in custody pending...

NEWARK, N.J. – A Columbian citizen admitted conspiring to import 15 kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Columbia, DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino, and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Savier Cervantes, 37, of Cartagena, Colombia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Evelyn...