Phoenix, Ariz. - On November 29, 2023, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned an 11-count indictment against Jorge Damian Roman-Figueroa, Luis Eduardo Roman-Flores, Manuel Jose Bernal, Joel Salazar-Ballesteros, and Jesus Armando Gonzalez-Villela, citizens of Mexico, for Conspiracy to Transport Aliens; Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments; Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana...

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...

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...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Rudy Vasquez Cervantes, 20, of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Phoenix on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. The indictment alleges that, on June 30, 2023, Cervantes was traveling by vehicle when he was stopped...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Martha Betancourth Angulo, 34, of Torrance, California, was indicted on one count each of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine. The indictment alleges that, on June 29, 2023, Angulo was traveling on Interstate 8 in Yuma County, Arizona, when she...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jonathan Edward Mayer, 22, of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced on June 30, 2023, by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 84 months in prison. Mayer previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Possession of a...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Cecilia Campos, 49, of Pellham, Alabama, was sentenced on June 14, 2023, by United States District Court Judge James A. Soto to 18 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release. Campos pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Heroin and Methamphetamine...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, United States and Mexican law enforcement announced significant enforcement actions against a prolific transnational drug trafficking organization operating in Nogales, Sonora, along the U.S.-Mexico border. After extensive bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) –...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Devonte Okeith Mathis, 24, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced by United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez to 10 years in prison (60 months on Count 2, consecutive to 60 months on Count 1), followed by 60 months of supervised release. Mathis pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess...