SAN DIEGO – Cole Thomas Salazar pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 24-year-old woman who was found inside her Vista apartment on November 3, 2020. According to his plea agreement, Salazar used an online...

SAN DIEGO – A two-year investigation has led to the indictment of 26 defendants for international drug smuggling, drug trafficking, and related conspiracy offenses. One of the defendants, Raul Barajas-Padilla, appeared in federal court yesterday for an initial appearance on the indictment. So far, 17 defendants have been arrested. Efforts...

PHOENIX - Last week, Sigfrido Adolfo Rivero, 56, of Nogales, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 121 months in federal prison, followed by 120 months of supervised release. Rivero previously pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl. On May 19, 2021, Rivero was...

PHOENIX - On Friday, June 3, 2022, brothers Osmar Martinez-Ochoa, 30, and Hector Martinez-Ochoa, 28, of Tucson, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker to each serve 11 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The Martinez-Ochoa brothers previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute...

SAN DIEGO – Drug dealer Saul Caro pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he sold the fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a thirty-five-year-old San Diego resident, identified in court records as M.S. According to his plea agreement, on April 11, 2021, Caro and the victim exchanged...

SAN DIEGO – Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr., a former U.S. Marine with dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, was sentenced in federal court to 195 months in prison for leading an international organization that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States. Dominguez had previously...

PHOENIX – Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz and Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced today that Jose Luis Montoya Miranda has been indicted on one count Conspiracy, one count Illegally Conducting an enterprise, one count Transportation of a Narcotic Drug for sale (Fentanyl) in an Amount over the Statutory Threshold...

SAN DIEGO – On April 30, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their support for DEA’s annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by dropping off more than 720,000 pounds of unneeded medications at 5,144 collection sites. Since 2010, DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has collected nearly 16...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced the unsealing of a 30-count indictment against 13 individuals for charges related to the distribution of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. On May 4, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned the indictment against the...

PHOENIX – On April 30th, 2022, the DEA Phoenix Field Division, along with our law enforcement and community partners collected 8,215 pounds of unneeded prescription medications throughout the State of Arizona, as part of DEA’s on-going commitment to prevent addition and reduce overdose deaths. Nationwide, more than 720,000 pounds of...