FRESNO, Calif. - Ramsey Jeries Farraj, 41, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiring with his former business partner, Majed Bashir “Mike” Akroush, 49, also of Bakersfield, to structure $4,204,965 obtained from the sale of smokeable synthetic drugs, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Smokable...

FRESNO, Calif. - Timothy Ortiz, aka Michael Fitton, 46, of Waukegan, Illinois, pled guilty today for his role in a large-scale smokeable synthetic cannabinoids trafficking organization that shipped misbranded synthetic drugs interstate from a processing lab in Millbrae, California, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Smokeable synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known...

McALLEN, Texas - A 43-year-old sergeant with the Progresso police department has been taken into custody on charges of aiding and abetting the attempt to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, announced DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Division, Steven Whipple and...

FT. WORTH, Texas - David Piper, Jr., 52, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 235 months in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced Special Agent-in-Charge Clyde E. Shelley, Jr. of the DEA, and U.S. Attorney John...

TUCSON, Ariz. - The DEA announced today the sentencing of Gustavo Nunez to 38.25 years in prison for performing illegal cosmetic surgeries on seven victims, three of whom were hospitalized, one with life-threatening injuries. In April 2017, Nunez pleaded guilty to 28 felony charges after performing illegal liposuction procedures. “Gustavo...

MANHATTAN, NY - James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Field (DEA), Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police (NYPD), announced today...

SHREVEPORT, La. - Today, a federal jury found a Texas man guilty of conspiring to transport methamphetamine and cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Brad L. Byerley and Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. Erasmo Aviles Jr., 35, of Spring, Texas, was found guilty of one count...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As a result of several long-term DEA investigations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) today identified Mexican national Raul Flores Hernandez and the Flores Drug Trafficking (Flores DTO) as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (Kingpin Act)...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - DEA Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Houston Division, Steven Whipple, Comal County District Attorney Jennifer Tharp, Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds and New Braunfels Chief of Police Tom Wibert announced that a combined special task force executed search and arrest warrants culminating in the arrests of...

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Twenty-two people were indicted in federal court for their roles trafficking heroin and other drugs in the Youngstown and Ravenna areas, law enforcement officials said. Arrests were executed this morning for people named in three separate indictments. A 79-count indictment charges 12 people with drug trafficking and...