SACRAMENTO, Calif. - On August 31, 2017, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Elijah Lee Richter, 26, of Camino, charging him with distribution of a controlled substance known as 25i-nBOME that caused death, and possession of a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to...

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered judgment against fugitive defendant Candelaria Dagandan Vazquez and her surety Candelaria Antoinette Sapp in the amount of $50,000, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and DEA Special Agent-in-Charge John J. Martin. The Honorable Susan Illston...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Chi Meng Yang, 31, of Montague, and his sister Gaosheng Laitinen, 36, of Mt. Shasta, were charged today for conspiring to commit bribery, bribery of a public official, conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, and manufacturing marijuana, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to the criminal complaint, on...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond Donovan, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that Muhammad Asif Hafeez, aka “Sultan,” was provisionally arrested in London pursuant to...

FRESNO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment today against Omar Manuel Ramirez, 34, of Fresno, charging him with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, manufacture of marijuana, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J...

FRESNO, Calif. - Ramsey Jeries Farraj, 41, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiring with his former business partner, Majed Bashir “Mike” Akroush, 49, also of Bakersfield, to structure $4,204,965 obtained from the sale of smokeable synthetic drugs, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Smokable...

FRESNO, Calif. - Timothy Ortiz, aka Michael Fitton, 46, of Waukegan, Illinois, pled guilty today for his role in a large-scale smokeable synthetic cannabinoids trafficking organization that shipped misbranded synthetic drugs interstate from a processing lab in Millbrae, California, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Smokeable synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As a result of several long-term DEA investigations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) today identified Mexican national Raul Flores Hernandez and the Flores Drug Trafficking (Flores DTO) as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (Kingpin Act)...

FRESNO, Calif. - Two former deputies with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office were sentenced today for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Logan August, 30, of Bakersfield, to three years’ probation, $16,200...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing a reduction for controlled substances that may be manufactured in the U.S. next year by 20 percent as compared to 2017, per the proposed notice being published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2017 and available for public inspection...