SAN DIEGO – An indictment unsealed today charges Carlos Paez Pereda, aka “Carlitos,” aka “Carlitos Rugrats,” alleged high-ranking lieutenant and leader of a violent wing of the Sinaloa Cartel called “Los Rugrats,” with Narcoterrorism and Material Support of Terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine...

Tampa, Fla. – Eric Turner (30, Georgia) and Jose Smith (29, Valrico) have been charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. If convicted, Turner and Smith each face a minimum of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Gregory W...

Washington, D.C. - A Honduras-based Chinese national extradited from Guatemala pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to launder money derived from drug trafficking, and to providing material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, specifically the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). According...

CENTENNIAL, CO – The Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) is issuing a warning after DEA's Southwest Laboratory identified illicit pills containing mixtures of both deadly fentanyl/carfentanil and fentanyl/heroin. The drugs were found in tablets after lab analyses of recent seizures in both Colorado and Utah. "With these...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On June 10, 2026, Bao Xu, 33, of Los Angeles, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and distributing five grams or more of methamphetamine. Xu was sentenced to 121 months in prison...

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 167 months in prison for his role in a transnational drug trafficking organization with ties to a Mexican cartel. The sentence follows a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation which has so far led to convictions of approximately a dozen...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons announced the results of four landmark federal prosecutions in the past year that have systematically dismantled major drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) connected to the Mexican cartels responsible for flooding South Dakota communities with methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other deadly narcotics. Through coordinated, long-term...

HOUSTON – A 51-year-old Houston man has been sentenced for his role in an ongoing cocaine distribution scheme that spanned nearly a decade, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Brian Leardo of the Houston Division and A cting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck. Leonel Mata Luna pleaded...

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than 26 years in federal prison for distributing drugs through a dark web marketplace known as the “Nemesis Market.” Darren Hughes operated a vendor store offering free samples of methamphetamine on the Nemesis Market, one of the world’s largest dark web...

BOSTON – Eighteen individuals in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, California and Hawaii have been arrested in connection with an alleged drug trafficking and money laundering scheme centered in Gardner, Massachusetts. The following defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled...