PHOENIX, Ariz. – On Oct. 28, 2023, Arizona residents once again emptied their medicine cabinets to help dispose of old, unwanted, and expired medications. In total, DEA Arizona and its law enforcement partners collected 5,414 pounds of unneeded medications at 80 collection sites statewide. Nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement...

SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey convened a press conference bringing together numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities to announce “All Hands on Deck,” a law enforcement initiative to address what has become endemic drug dealing in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. U.S. Attorney Ramsey...

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Attorney’s Office has charged Yessenia Margarita Barrientos-Lainez—a former employee of a money services business in the Tenderloin district—with conspiring to launder drug proceeds by wiring large sums of money abroad for a known drug trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area, announced United States...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Santana, 47, of Shafter, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark announced. According to court documents, on Nov...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a six-day trial, a federal jury found Henry Benson, 42, of Vallejo, guilty on Thursday of conspiracy to distribute and manufacture methamphetamine-laced pills, four counts of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine-laced pills, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Hector Manuel Cruz, Jr., 29, of Chandler, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge G. Murray Snow to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. On April 25, 2023, Cruz pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Co-defendant Konstantin...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Oswaldo Lopez-Escobar, of Mexico, was charged by complaint on October 5, 2023, for Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine. The complaint alleges that, on October 4, 2023, Lopez-Escobar, driving a semi-truck, applied for admission into the United States from Mexico at the Mariposa Port of Entry in...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jose Cruz Ivan Aispuro, 38, a Mexican national residing in Stockton, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark announced. According to court documents, between November...

FRESNO, Calif. — Alma Sanchez, 50, of Alpaugh, was sentenced today to 16 years and three months in prison for distributing methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark announced. According to court documents, Sanchez distributed methamphetamine on two occasions to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment today against three defendants, charging them with drug trafficking offenses, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark announced. Jiovanni Eleazar Paco, 25, of Modesto; Carlos Daniel Gastelum Bustamante, 25, a...