PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last week, Jose Ismael Castro Leon, 47, a Mexican national living in the United States illegally, was charged by federal criminal complaint in Phoenix, Arizona with Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fentanyl. According to the complaint, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) East...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last week, John Avendano, 21, of Phoenix, Arizona, was charged by federal criminal complaint in Phoenix, Arizona with Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. According to the complaint, on September 22, a Task Force Officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) East Valley Drug Enforcement Task...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jorge Anaya-Valencia, 48, of Guyamas, Sonora, Mexico, who was unlawfully living in Arizona, was sentenced on September 23, by United States District Judge Krissa M. Lanham to 180 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Anaya-Valencia’s co-defendants, all illegal aliens, were previously sentenced in this case...

WASHINGTON — In a superseding indictment unsealed today, high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel are facing federal charges for their alleged involvement in trafficking hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into southern Illinois and laundering the proceeds to Mexico. “The Sinaloa Cartel relies on drug trafficking to finance...

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Daniel Reif, Inc., doing business as The Medicine Shoppe, a retail pharmacy in Kansas City, Kansas, entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal government agreeing to pay $200,000 to resolve allegations the pharmacy violated the civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On September 17, Mariano Gomez Padilla, 28, Eduardo Garcia Lopez, 21, and Abel Martinez Valenzuela, 25, all Mexican nationals living in Arizona, were charged by federal criminal complaint with Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. According to the complaint, on September 17, Drug Enforcement...

ST. LOUIS – As students across Missouri return to school, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division is encouraging families to have open conversations about the potentially lethal consequences of drug experimentation and the threat posed by drug dealers on social media. In the first seven months of 2025...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jose Antonio Ornelas, Jr., 33, of Tucson, was sentenced on July 10, by United States District Court Judge Rosemary Márquez to 98 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. Ornelas, Jr. previously pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. On October 3...

TUCSON, Ariz — Attorney General Kris Mayes announced today that a Pima County Superior Court has reached a guilty verdict on all counts in the trial of 57-year-old Muhammad Saeed, M.D., a former Tucson Psychiatrist, who practiced in Arizona from 2004-2020. Dr. Saeed was convicted on June 19, 2025, of...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jose Fernando McCormick, 52, of Tucson, was sentenced on June 27, 2025, by United States District Court Judge Scott H. Rash to 120 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. McCormick previously pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. On October 3...