Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Tirrel Saunders, a/k/a “Pretty”, age 35, of Baltimore, Maryland to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Saunders was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (“Butler...

Washington, D.C. - A Mexican national was extradited from Brazil to the United States on Nov. 10 to face international drug trafficking charges. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, aka Jafett Arias-Becerra, aka La Chepa, aka Camaron, and aka Santy, 46, arrived in the United States on Wednesday and made his initial court appearance...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John J. Durham, Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), Anne Milgram, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Jay Greenberg, Acting Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the Federal Bureau of...

NEW YORK – Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Daniel Rendon Herrera, also known as “Don Mario,” a citizen of Colombia, pleaded guilty to engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The proceeding took place before United States...

TAMPA, Fla. –Ahmad Rashad Weston, aka “Blood,” 42, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of a drug mixture containing heroin and fentanyl, as well as 500 grams or more of cocaine. Weston pleaded guilty...

EL PASO – A federal jury convicted two Sinaloa Cartel members on Friday for their roles in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, Mexico and Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,”...

ALBANY, NY – Richard “Richie” Sinde, age 56, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Robert “Bobby” Ingrao, age 74, of Lodi, New Jersey, were indicted last month for trafficking 9 kilograms of cocaine. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Ray Donovan, Special Agent in...

DALLAS – A Colombian man was sentenced to nearly three decades in federal prison for drug trafficking violations. Manuel Camilo Renteria Lemus, 37, pleaded guilty on Nov. 16, 2020, to conspiracy to manufacture and distribution of cocaine, knowing it would be imported into the United States. Lemus was sentenced to...

LUBBOCK, TX - A dozen Lubbock drug traffickers have been sentenced to a combined 106 years in federal prison. The defendants were arrested during a DEA operation called Los Perros De Nieve (“Operation Snow Dogs”), which also resulted in the seizure of multiple kilograms of cocaine, more than a dozen...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man, who was the 25th defendant associated with Operation High Tide, was sentenced today for his role in trafficking firearms and selling heroin. According to court documents, in 2017, Shon E. Melton, 32, of Portsmouth, was attributed with trafficking 19 firearms, including a concealable short...