ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Kristopher Wade Parker, 36, of Carlsbad, New Mexico, was sentenced on Oct. 14 in federal court to five-and-a-half years in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Parker pleaded guilty on Oct. 25...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury has charged Matthew Sanchez and Francisco Javier Schraidt Rodriguez with distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and alprazolam in connection with a scheme to transport the drugs from Mexico to California, announced...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Toby Randall Walker, 36, appeared in federal court in Albuquerque on Oct. 1 on multiple drug and firearm charges brought under the Department of Justice’s Operation LeGend. According to a criminal complaint, on Sept. 29, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration encountered Walker and located 1,490 grams...

SAN FRANCISCO – Charges were unsealed today accusing a Tenderloin drug dealer of selling fentanyl that led to the overdose death of one individual and the hospitalization of another individual, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Toby Schwartz of the Drug Enforcement Administration...

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)...

FRESNO , Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment today against Morgan Wency Ventura Sanchez, 23, of Fresno, charging him with possessing fentanyl, LSD, cocaine, and heroin with intent to distribute the controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, U.S...

SAN FRANCISCO – Complaints were unsealed in federal court today charging 15 individuals with trafficking drugs and firearms in connection with the Sureños street gang, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, ATF Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman, FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair, DEA Special...

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...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jorge Luis Velasquez, 33, of Mexico, Omar Velazquez Landeros, 27, of Bakersfield, and Victor Romero Galvan, 29, of Mexico, were indicted today for conspiring and possessing with intent to distribute over 10,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl and approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamine, and for carrying...

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...