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...

PLANO, Texas – Two Chinese nationals have been indicted and charged with federal drug trafficking violations as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38, Chinese citizens, were charged in a...

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...

Washington, D.C. - The leader of a Dominican Republic-based international cocaine trafficking and money laundering organization was extradited from Colombia to the United States yesterday to face drug trafficking charges filed in two separate indictments in the Districts of Puerto Rico and New Jersey as well as money laundering charges...

WASHINGTON – Ecuadorian authorities, supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), conducted a series of coordinated enforcement operations today targeting transnational criminal organizations involved in international cocaine trafficking. The Ecuadorian National Police conducted simultaneous operations at multiple locations across Ecuador following a years-long investigation. The...

Washington, D.C. - A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ramon Alvarez Ayala, 44, and Rafael Alvarez Ayala, 42, both Mexican nationals, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm, including a machinegun, in...

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...

MADISON, Wis. – Noah A. Hodges, 44, Madison, Wisconsin, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to five years in federal prison for possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine intended for distribution. The prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. Hodges pleaded...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a lengthy Homeland Security Task Force investigation, a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned an indictment on July 15, 2026, charging seven defendants, including three Mexican and two Guatemalan nationals, as part of an Owensboro-based methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking conspiracy. The defendants were arrested...