PORTLAND, Oregon- The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division today announced a multi-agency fentanyl enforcement operation resulting in dozens of arrests, and the seizure of drugs, firearms, and cash in Portland, Oregon. Honduran drug traffickers working for the Sinaloa Cartel infiltrated Portland flooding the area with deadly fentanyl and other...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Acting United States Attorney Richard Barker announced that United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Ricardo Cantu, age 26, to 108 months in prison on drug trafficking charges. Judge Dimke also imposed 4 years of supervised release. According to court documents and information provided at the...

BOISE – Michael Paul Lacasse, 48, and Venetia Dawn Trischan, 47, of Caldwell, were sentenced to 133 months and 96 months, respectively, in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. According to court records, in December 2023, law enforcement learned that Lacasse and Trischan were involved in...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Four defendants have been indicted on multiple drug trafficking charges, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, New Orleans Division Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Hofer, and United States Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Shameka Jackson. A six-count indictment filed in U.S. District...

Spokane, Washington – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice presided over Esquivel-Bolanos’s trial, which began April 14, 2025...

POCATELLO – Geoffrey W. Ancheta, 40, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court records, members of the BADGES Task Force stopped Ancheta and his co-defendant, Alme Otto, as they returned from a trip to Arizona on April...

SAN DIEGO – Four indictments were unsealed in federal court charging 16 individuals throughout San Diego County with distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin and laundering drug-trafficking proceeds. In a coordinated takedown yesterday, more than 115 federal, state and local law enforcement officials arrested 10 defendants and executed...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 37-year-old South Texan has been ordered to federal prison for illegally smuggling 43 kilograms of cocaine into the United States, announced Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Hector Julian Sustaita...

BOISE – Evan Nickolai Ernstson, 48, of Boise, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Ernstson to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his...

BOISE – A large-scale Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation and prosecution resulted in the conviction of 11 Idaho defendants on federal drug trafficking charges, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. The investigation involved the cooperative efforts of 10 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies...