BOSTON – A Lawrence man pleaded guilty to his involvement in money laundering and cocaine conspiracies. Victor Berroa Mercedes, 32, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine; and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun scheduled...

BOSTON – A Colombian man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering organization that laundered more than $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds from Colombian cartels through the United States, Caribbean and European banking systems. Jaime Humberto Mejia-Bencardino, 62, was...

FLORENCE, S.C. — Demetrius Stepp, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts of distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine. Evidence presented to the court showed that on three occasions in April and May 2022, a confidential informant...

BOSTON – A Revere man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds for drug suppliers based in Central and/or South America and possessing over 17 kilograms of various controlled substances. Jason Hunter, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy...

BOSTON – Two Jamaican nationals have been sentenced in federal court in Boston for their involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering organization that laundered more than $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds from Colombian cartels through the United States, Caribbean and European banking systems. St. Devon Anthony Cover, 61...

TUCSON, Ariz. – German Montano-Peralta, 33, of Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on May 12, 2025, by United States District Judge Angela Martinez to 88 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Montano-Peralta previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl and Methamphetamine. On April 30, 2024...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced the release of the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), DEA’s comprehensive review of the threats posed to the United States by deadly illicit drugs and the violent domestic and international drug trafficking organizations responsible for producing and trafficking the drugs...

COLUMBUS, Ga. – A Columbus resident, arrested and prosecuted under the multi-agency law enforcement effort called Operation Sweet Silence, confessed to leading a major drug trafficking conspiracy in the community and agreed to serve 20 years in prison under a binding plea agreement with the final two co-defendants entering guilty...

LOS ANGELES – A South Bay man pleaded guilty today to selling dozens of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to a drug dealer who later sold them to a victim who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose in January 2020. Marcus Michael Takaya Poydras, 36, of Redondo Beach, pleaded guilty to...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Timothy Hampton, 50, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty...