NEW YORK — The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of charges against, and the arrests of, five Ecuadorian nationals who conspired to import vast quantities of cocaine into the United States for more than a decade. The defendants include a former member of Ecuador’s National Assembly, a former Ecuadorian...

Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, also known as “Churrón,” will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo on a superseding indictment charging him with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution, and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Bermúdez Cagua...

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ivan Cazarin Molina, 42, a Mexican national, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking offense. According to court documents, Cazarin...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpweire, 45, made an initial appearance in federal court today on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machineguns and destructive devices, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a...

WICHITA, KAN. – A Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) operation led to the dismantling of a drug trafficking ring in Kansas operated on behalf of a Mexican drug cartel. Ringleader, Euriel Talavera, 32, of Wichita and 14 other defendants pleaded guilty to criminal charges following a multi-agency investigation which included...

Washington, D.C. - A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ramon Alvarez Ayala, 44, and Rafael Alvarez Ayala, 42, both Mexican nationals, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm, including a machinegun, in...

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The last of 15 defendants was sentenced to prison after a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation dismantled a Kansas City metro-based drug trafficking ring linked to Mexico. In December 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) launched an investigation into a...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A dual Lebanese-Syrian national was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for narco-terrorism conspiracy and 20 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, to be served concurrently. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Antoine Kassis...

Washington, D.C. - A Honduras-based Chinese national extradited from Guatemala pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to launder money derived from drug trafficking, and to providing material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, specifically the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). According...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A North Kansas City, Mo., man has been charged by criminal complaint for distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of firearms by a felon. Danny D. Garrett, Jr., 46, appeared...