SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Johnnell Smith, 42, of Springfield, Illinois, was sentenced on Feb. 7, 2025, to 120 months in prison for possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it and for possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug crime. At the sentencing hearing in front of Senior...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jose Manuel Arellano-Noriega, 37, a Mexican national living in Phoenix, was arrested in Phoenix on Monday and charged with Possession with the Intent to Distribute More than 400 Grams of Fentanyl. According to the complaint, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Phoenix East Valley Drug Enforcement...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Cynthia Solano, 40, of Phoenix, was sentenced this week by United States District Judge G. Murray Snow to 87 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, for her involvement in a transnational firearm smuggling organization. On August 14, 2024, Solano pleaded guilty to Possession...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Investigators with the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force executed a residential search warrant in the Phoenix area on Monday, January 27, 2025, following a traffic stop that resulted in the seizure of 50 pounds of methamphetamine. As a result of the search warrant, investigators seized approximately 1,609...

Tucson, Ariz. - The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced today that extensive bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico resulted in Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) , conducting a significant enforcement operation last week in Nogales, Sonora, to dismantle...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Juan Aquino, 53, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke III, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Jarin Devon Noojin, 26, of Mishawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Cristal C. Brisco...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 42, of Wittmann, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 180 months in prison. Porras-Ochoa pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of Cocaine, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Prescription...

HAMMOND, Ind. - Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Erik P. Grant, 32, of Schererville, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading guilty...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Heriberto Lopez-Landeros, 44, of Avondale, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Landeros pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on August 5, 2024. Lopez-Landeros was the head of an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization responsible...