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...

Gainesville, Fla. – Eddie Jerome Scott, 38, of Gainesville, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court to distribution of methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl; carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The...

ST. LOUIS– Steven L. Hofer was appointed Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Field Division, marking a return to the Division in which he began his 22-year career with the agency. SAC Hofer will oversee operations across 10 DEA offices in Kansas...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- A Dubuque man who distributed methamphetamine and attempted to escape from a correctional facility was sentenced on June 30, to 25 years in federal prison. Christopher Allen Puccio, age 32, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 21, 2025, guilty plea to one...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration filed its intent to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitagynine (7-OH) and three related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Prior to DEA issuing this notice, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed synthetic 7-OH, and the three related...

MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced today the unsealing of an indictment and superseding indictment charging members and associates of two Minnesota-based drug trafficking organizations with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, firearms offenses, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and causing death through use of...

Albany, New York – Felix Arencibia, age 40, of Amsterdam, New York, was sentenced today to 168 months’ imprisonment and five years of post-imprisonment supervised release for conspiracy and methamphetamine distribution charges in connection with his distribution and possession with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of pure methamphetamine...

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...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Mexican national unlawfully residing in the United States has been indicted after investigators seized over 17.5 pounds of narcotics, firearms, and cash. Baltazar Plata Bringas, 31, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine...