DALLAS, TX - Twelve alleged drug traffickers were arrested Wednesday in Operation Tormenta De Arena (“Sandstorm”), announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division During the bust in Lubbock, Brownfield, and Lamesa, DEA agents and their law enforcement partners also seized roughly 27 pounds...

SAN DIEGO –Jonathan Mefford was sentenced in federal court today to 190 months in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills that caused the death of a 20-year-old Chula Vista man, identified in court records as J.P., in October of 2018, and for distributing multi-pound level quantities of methamphetamine in Kansas. Mefford...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Charlottesville man who had more than three pounds of methamphetamine and two pounds of cocaine mailed to him from California in March 2021 pleaded guilty yesterday to federal drug charges. Damion Demetrius Reeves, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with the intent to distribute 50...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mark Beale, 75, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, pleaded guilty on March 25 in federal court to unlawful dispensing and distributing of a schedule II controlled substance. Beale will remain on conditions of release pending sentencing. A federal grand jury indicted Beale on June 23, 2021. According...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Four individuals were sentenced today, along with two others on February 4 and 25, to a combined 33 years in prison for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances including fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. According to court documents, the following individuals were sentenced for...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On March 18, 2022, a federal jury convicted Chi Meng Yang, 36, of Montague, of bribery of a public official, conspiracy to commit bribery, and manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon...

EL PASO – A Mexican national was sentenced today to life in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for his role in the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations. According to court documents, Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,” “Grim Reaper,” 37, of Villa Ahumada, became a member of...

FRESNO, Calif. — Wilfredo Medina-Perez, 34, a native and citizen of Sinaloa, Mexico, residing in Bakersfield, was sentenced today to 10 years and five months in prison for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon announced. According...

TAMPA, Fla. – On March 16, 2022, Dr. Zachary Bird (51, Tampa) was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison, followed by 1 year of supervised release, for structuring cash transactions to evade bank reporting requirements. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the...

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal jury has convicted Luis Elias Angulo Leones (Ecuador, 29), Jhonis Alexis Landazuri Arboleda (Colombia, 33), and Dilson Daniel Arboleda Quinones (Colombia, 25) of possessing and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction...