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...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Sept. 18, 2026, DeCarlos L. Smallwood, 51, of South Bend, was convicted of eight felony counts after a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty. Smallwood was found guilty of drug and firearm offenses, including conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or...

CHICAGO – Todd C. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, announced drug-related charges filed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office against two men. Burhan C. Ozerdinc, 33, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, and Ahmad S. Sanducka, 33, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, were...

CHICAGO — A woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for using information stolen from physicians to fraudulently write opioid prescriptions. AMANI IBRAHIM fraudulently caused prescriptions for oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other controlled substances to be issued under the names of real medical providers and often in the...

EVANSVILLE, Ind.- Six individuals, all from Evansville, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine trafficking ring operating in Southern Indiana. Defendant Sentence Charge(s) Lovechild McGuire, 33 28 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to...

EL PASO - A Mexican national, Luis Carlos Davalos-Lopez, 29, pleaded guilty today in El Paso, Texas, to conspiracy to bring in aliens to the United States. According to court documents, Davalos-Lopez conspired with others to smuggle migrants through an underground tunnel from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas...

EL PASO - Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty today to multiple charges including alien smuggling and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). “This is but two more guilty pleas added in DEA’s long and sustained efforts against CJNG and its...

TOPEKA, KAN. – An Idaho man was sentenced to 70 months in prison after being caught with packages of fentanyl that he was transporting cross-country. According to court documents, Brian Hilario Delgado Mayorga, 24, of Burley, Idaho, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. In...

ST. LOUIS– The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is joining Facing Fentanyl , to unite families, communities and organizations across the country in recognizing National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, Friday, August 21. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the national observance which honors and remembers the lives lost...

URBANA, Ill. – A Danville, Illinois, man, Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 50, was sentenced on Aug. 14, 2026, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on three drug trafficking charges, including his involvement in a drug conspiracy that resulted in the overdose death of Maggie Avelar on Aug. 19, 2023...