SEATTLE – A 59-year-old Auburn, Washington man was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 11 years in prison for his fentanyl trafficking activities, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Johnny Elias was arrested in November 2024. Earlier in the year, law enforcement learned that Elias was...

Seattle –A citizen of Mexico who resided in Renton, Washington before being sent to the Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc, California for drug trafficking, was sentenced today to an additional five years in prison for a second drug trafficking conviction, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Humberto Lopez Rodriguez, 31...

WASHINGTON – Terrance C. “Terry” Cole was sworn in as DEA Administrator on July 23, 2025, following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Cole is a distinguished public servant who has spent more than 31 years in law enforcement, 22 of which were at DEA fighting the drug cartels...

BROOKLYN, NY – José Adolfo Macías Villamar, aka "Fito,” a citizen of Ecuador, was arraigned in federal court in the Eastern District of New York on Monday for crimes allegedly committed as the leader of the Los Choneros Transnational Criminal Organization. Based in Ecuador, Los Choneros is believed to be...

SPOKANE, Wash.– Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Van Marter announced that Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico was sentenced on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on April 16, 2025, following a jury trial. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Esquivel-Bolanos...

Yakima, Wash. – Thirteen people are charged following the return of 12 indictments alleging more than a dozen charges against these defendants for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana on the Yakama Nation Reservation. The arrests follow a long-term joint federal, local, and tribal investigation that began in late 2024...

TACOMA, Wash. – Key members of a drug trafficking organization connected to the Aryan Family prison gang were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to prison terms. Jesse James Bailey, 40, was sentenced to 210 months (17.5 years) in prison. His wife, Candace Bailey, 43, was sentenced to...

SEATTLE, Wash.--Dr. Andrew Voegel-Podadera, 35, a resident physician at the University of Washington Medical School who worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital, UW Medicine, and Harborview Medical Center is charged with two counts of Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Deception, and Subterfuge. On June 24th, 2025, DEA Seattle Diversion...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A U.S. citizen deeply enmeshed in an international drug smuggling conspiracy was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison. Just over a year ago, law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24...

SEATTLE, Wash.-- On June 20, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) revoked the DEA registration of registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) Scott Eric Hansen. Hansen’s state license was indefinitely suspended in 2024 after a finding that his ability to issue controlled substance prescriptions posed an immediate danger to public health and...