SANTA ANA, Calif. - A Santa Barbara-area physician who wrote numerous prescriptions for powerful painkillers for “patients” - many of whom were drug addicts, and some of whom died from drug overdose - was convicted today of 79 federal drug trafficking charges. Julio Gabriel Diaz, 67, a Goleta resident who...

LOS ANGELES - One of the principal cocaine traffickers associated with an international narcotics ring was sentenced this morning to 20 years in federal prison. Zaid Wakil, 43, of Winston Salem, North Carolina, was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu for his role in acquiring more than...

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - United States District Judge Derrick K. Watson sentenced Serafine Magallon, 41, to 225 months imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. In sentencing Magallon, a San Jose, California resident, Judge Watson found that he held...

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - After an investigation that began in November 2014, members of the DEA Ventura Resident Office and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit shut down a major cocaine distribution organization that was operating in and around San Luis Obispo County. Investigators served search warrants over...

LOS ANGELES - A man linked to one of the most notorious organized crime rings in Israel and who on his own operated “a vast international criminal conspiracy engaged in drug trafficking and money laundering” was sentenced today to 384 months in federal prison. Matsri was found guilty by a...

LOS ANGELES - DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg today announced that the 10th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place September 26th from 10 am-2 pm local time. As with the previous nine Take-Back events, sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can return their unwanted...

RENO, Nev. - Victor H. Orozco, 40, of Grandview, WA, was sentenced on July 20 by U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du to 16 years in prison and five years supervised release for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 24 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin. Orozco, a licensed...

HONOLULU - A federal jury found a California man guilty last week of smuggling methamphetamine into Hawaii. After a three day trial, Roman Gabriel Contreras, 44, of Ontario, California, was convicted of attempting to distribute more than 500 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine in Kauai on March 24, 2015...

LOS ANGELES - The owner of a Fashion District import-export business pleaded guilty late Friday afternoon to federal charges stemming from an investigation into “Black Market Peso Exchange” schemes used by international drug cartels to launder and send narcotics proceeds out of the United States. The owner of Yili Underwear...

LAS VEGAS - A Topeka, Kansas man who was pulled over by Nevada Highway Patrol Officers in 2013, and found to be in possession of 24 pounds of methamphetamine and 74 pounds of marijuana, was sentenced today to 365 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release,announced U.S. Attorney...