ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Billy Cooks, 36, aka “Red Dollaz,” pleaded guilty on December 12, 2014, to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, namely methamphetamine, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Previously, Cooks’ co-conspirator, E’lala Frank, 36, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. A third conspirator, Dawud Johnson...

BOISE, Idaho - Rogelio Contreras Villasenor, 49, of Caldwell, Idaho, was sentenced yesterday to 41 months in prison for conspiracy to attempt to evade and defeat tax. United States District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Villasenor to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence and pay...

SEATTLE - Four men charged in July 2014 with two separate hash oil explosions pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The charges relate to explosions in Bellevue on November 5, 2013, and in Kirkland on January 1, 2014. Sentencing hearings for the defendants are scheduled for...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Today, Baretta Faatafuga, 38, of Wasilla, Alaska, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 90 months in federal prison for his role in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. Faatafuga previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 1.6 kilograms of heroin throughout the Anchorage area. As part...

BOISE, Idaho - Cesar Solorio-Solorio, 40, a Mexican national living in Shoshone, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to distribution of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a firearm. According to court documents, on March 7, 2014, Solorio-Solorio sold one ounce of methamphetamine to a person assisting law...

WASHINGTON - DEA Deputy Administrator Thomas Harrigan and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York today announced that Michael Filter was extradited from Estonia where he had been arrested for conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and conspiracy to distribute cocaine on...

New disposal rules now in effect provide for convenient, ongoing disposal opportunities for patients’ unwanted pharmaceuticals; law enforcement agencies may continue to hold take-back events WASHINGTON - On its ninth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on September 27, the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and 4,076 of its national, tribal, and community...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Today, multiple indictments have been unsealed charging eight defendants in Texas, California, Arizona, and Alaska with conspiring to distribute large quantities of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine in Alaska and also working together to launder money from the United States into Mexico. The first indictment charges two men...

WASHINGTON - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart today issued this statement following the capture of Hector Beltran-Leyva: "One of the world's biggest drug empires continues to crumble with the capture of Hector Beltran-Leyva in Mexico. Much of the violence and lawlessness that has plagued Mexico can be traced to this...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Today, in separate proceedings, Jose Antonio Soto-Vasquez, 29, and Jesus Manual Soto-Vasquez, 27, were each sentenced in U.S. District Court to ten years in prison. Earlier this year, both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Both brothers were part...