ALBUQUERQUE - Ivan Romero, 40, the leader of a heroin trafficking organization based in Taos County, N.M. pleaded guilty earlier this week to federal heroin and money laundering charges filed as the result of a 15-month DEA-led multi-agency investigation. His brother, Ricco Romero, 29, and his wife, Melissa Romero, 37...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he fraudulently and illegally wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets for patients with no medical necessity, one of whom was a sex partner...

SAN DIEGO - Roberto Ponce-Rocha was extradited from Colombia on November 17, 2016, where he had been arrested for charges arising out of his leadership role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving the transportation of large-scale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States. As part of the...

SAN DIEGO - The final tally is in from the 12th National Prescription Take-Back Day which took place Saturday, October 22, and DEA and its partners took back nearly 8,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 39 locations in San Diego County and four in Imperial County. Over the course of...

EL PASO - Samuel Velasco Gurrola, 41 years old, faces mandatory life in federal prison after a jury convicted him this afternoon of his role in a murder-for-hire Jurors convicted Gurrola of three counts of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and four counts of conspiracy to cause...

SAN DIEGO - America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over-2.4 percent of the population-abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month...

EL PASO - Christopher Chavez, 40, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced today to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a cocaine trafficking organization that transported large amounts of cocaine into Connecticut. Chavez also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine...

EL PASO - A Barrio (BA) gang associate was sentenced today to 240 months in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking offenses. Luis Humberto Hernandez Celis, aka Pac, 32, of El Paso, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of the Western District of...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, was arrested this morning and charged with distributing oxycodone and other highly addictive drugs without any legitimate medical purpose in exchange for sex acts. The doctor was taken into custody by San Diego Drug...

EL PASO - Today, federal, state and local authorities arrested seven individuals in the El Paso area based on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. An eighth defendant was arrested back in June 2016. Those arrested today include: Manuel Almanzar ,44, San Elizario, TX Oralia Almanza, 43, San Elizario Adrian...