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...

SAN DIEGO -Josue Adan Lemus-Lara, aka “Fenix,” was sentenced in federal court today to 260 months in prison. His sentence follows his conviction after a week-long jury trial in November 2023 where he was convicted on all charges in a maritime cocaine trafficking conspiracy. During a multi-year wiretap investigation led...

SAN DIEG O - Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato, an Ecuadorian national and alleged drug trafficker, made his first appearance in federal court today following his extradition to the United States from Colombia yesterday. At the hearing, Sanchez Farfan entered a not guilty plea. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara L...

SAN DIEGO – Four sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the imprisoned former Sinaloa Cartel leader known as El Chapo, were indicted by a federal grand jury for large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering and violent crimes in connection with their assumption of cartel leadership following their father’s arrest and extradition to...

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today against Guatemalan national Axel Bladimir Montejo Saenz, aka “Mosh,” aka “Kraken.” The indictment returned on November 1, 2018, charges Montejo Saenz with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine Intended for Unlawful Importation and Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine on...

SAN DIEGO – Suspected drug trafficker Rafael Orlando Ramirez Barillas, a Guatemalan national who was extradited to the United States from Guatemala on Thursday, February 10, 2022 to face international cocaine trafficking and maritime smuggling charges in the Southern District of California, appeared in federal court today and was ordered...

SAN DIEGO - Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr. of Tamaulipas, Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court today to drug and money laundering charges, admitting that he was the leader of a trafficking organization that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States. According to court...

WASHINGTON, DC – DEA Special Operation Division Special Agent in Charge Wendy C. Woolcock and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss announced today that Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado, aka “Tony Hernandez,” 42, was sentenced to life in prison for cocaine-importation, weapons, and false-statements offenses...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Department of State today announced new rewards for information that assists in identifying and bringing to justice two Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) leaders who allegedly participated in corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with high-ranking Venezuelan officials. Through the...

NEW YORK – DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman announced today that Adel El Zabayar was charged in Manhattan federal court with participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, a cocaine importation conspiracy, and related weapons offenses involving...