WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) today has designated Mexican narcotics trafficker Abel Briones Ruiz as a Specially Designated Narcotics (SDNT) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (“Kingpin Act”) for providing support for the international narcotics trafficking activities of the Gulf Cartel...

McALLEN, Texas - A federal grand jury has returned a two-count indictment against a Rio Grande City Police Department investigator and a second defendant in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney...

WACO, Texas - The owner of the Cove Smoke Shack in Copperas Cove, TX, faces up to 20 years in federal prison after admitting to selling synthetic marijuana announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston...

WASHINGTON - DEA Special Agent Joseph Piersante today became the first-ever member of DEA to receive the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom - . Piersante was struck by enemy gun fire while on a counter-terrorism and narcotics mission in Afghanistan in 2011. The Defense of Freedom...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Two men have been ordered to federal prison following their roles in a large-scale drug-trafficking conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Guillermo Herrera, 55, and Hector Alberto Burton aka Hector Alberto Camacho, 41...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Several South Texas men and one from Houston have been arrested on charges including a marijuana trafficking conspiracy and laundering monetary instruments during an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) dubbed “Operation Black Mask,” announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. (Houston...

LAREDO, Texas - Luis Macias-Molinas, 32, Ricardo Rosas Jr., 27, and Manuel Aguilar, aka Chino, 25, all of Laredo, have been ordered to federal prison following their convictions for drug trafficking and gun related charges, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S...

McALLEN, Texas - Noel Pena, 29, a Rio Grande City Police Department investigator, has been arrested and made his initial appearance on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson...

McALLEN, Texas - Alejandro Morales-Flores, 60, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Houston, has entered a plea of guilty in McAllen federal court to conspiring to commit money laundering, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. On Oct. 24...

SAN ANTONIO - In San Antonio today, 46-year-old Esiquiel (aka “Cheke”), a former major drug trafficker in the Piedras Negras “Plaza,” pleaded guilty to his leadership role in the importation and distribution of thousands of kilograms of narcotics into the United States from Mexico announced DEA Special Agent in Charge...