MIAMI – An alleged member of a Guatemala-based drug trafficking organization has been extradited from Guatemala to the Southern District of Florida to face federal charges for his role in an international cocaine trafficking conspiracy spanning four countries. According to court records, from 2012 through 2023, Mauro Ismael Morales Martinez...

HAMMOND, Ind. - On Oct. 29, 2026, Jabari Casey, 45, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and a quantity of crack cocaine, and to possessing a firearm in...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Oct. 29, 2026, Leto Lorenzo Hill, 38 years old, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine, and to being a felon in...

MIAMI – The leader of Frente 33, part of the FARC dissident group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), a designated foreign terrorist organization, was extradited from Colombia to the Southern District of Florida on Thursday to face federal charges stemming from an alleged international cocaine trafficking...

MILWAUKEE -- Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Special Agent in Charge Todd C. Smith of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Chicago Field Division, and Assistant Special Agent in Charge John McGarry of the DEA Milwaukee District Office announced the extradition of...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jianhua Zhao, 25, of the People’s Republic of China, and residing in Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on Oct.1, 2026, after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and distributing five grams or more of methamphetamine...

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...

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...

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...

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...