The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Orleans Field Division is issuing an urgent public safety advisory to residents across the Northshore, specifically St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes, warning of a deadly group of synthetic opioids known as nitazenes following a recent surge in fatal overdoses. Forensic analysis and recent...

OXFORD – U.S. Attorney Scott Leary presented three awards for investigative excellence to investigators relating to their work on a Homeland Security Task Force drug trafficking prosecution: • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Josh Moore; • DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant/DEA Task Force Officer Josh Bryant; and • Hernando...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Birmingham Police Department along with federal law enforcement partners highlighted their strong and ongoing partnership during a press conference focused on their coordinated efforts to make Birmingham safer. “This is the ultimate good news story! When we stand together, we...

CONCORD, N.H. – Eddy Balbuena-Gomez, age 32, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, plead guilty in federal court to a one-count Superseding Indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, namely, fentanyl and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. Balbuena-Gomez is scheduled to...

BOSTON – A Dominican national unlawfully residing in Dorchester, Massachusetts has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for his role in a large-scale fentanyl trafficking conspiracy. Anderson Ernesto Andujar Echavarria, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to five years in prison, to be followed by...

CONCORD, N.H. – Aguasvivas-Pena, 32, a citizen of the Dominican Republic who is currently unlawfully present in the United States, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute a...

CONCORD, N.H. – A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty in federal court to two separate drug trafficking conspiracies, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. Joseph Lara, 50, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, specifically methamphetamine. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante scheduled Lara’s sentencing for...

BOSTON – A Lawrence, Massachusetts man has been sentenced for operating a clandestine drug laboratory that manufactured thousands of fentanyl and methamphetamine pills and for possessing firearms that furthered his drug trafficking operation. The defendant fled the United States shortly before his trial. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, 38, was sentenced by...

CONCORD, N.H. – Massachusetts pharmacist Rima Gerges-Maalouf, 60, pleaded guilty in Federal Court to diverting controlled prescription drugs while working as a pharmacist in New Hampshire, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. As set forth in the plea agreement, in August 2024, Gerges-Maalouf served as a per diem pharmacist at a...

CONCORD, N.H. – Michael Savard, 40, of Colebrook, was sentenced yesterday in federal court for fentanyl trafficking conspiracy in a case brought by New Hampshire’s Homeland Security Task Force, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. Savard was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty to 80 months in federal prison...