ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thirteen people have been charged and arrested for their roles in a New York City-based drug trafficking ring, with federal agents seizing nearly 500 kilos of cocaine. The announcement was made by Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge, New York Division, Drug Enforcement Administration...

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Erlan Eduardo Cruz-Acosta was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for illegal reentry following removal, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick handed down the sentence. Cruz-Acosta, 41, a national of Honduras, was indicted...

ALBUQUERQUE – A Texas woman is facing federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her vehicle during a checkpoint inspection south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. According to court documents, on the afternoon of June 16, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Aurelia...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A U.S. citizen deeply enmeshed in an international drug smuggling conspiracy was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison. Just over a year ago, law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24...

McALLEN, Texas – A 40-year-old Mexican national illegally in the United States has been ordered to prison for possessing narcotics with the intent to distribute, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei. Miguel Angel Reyes-Sanchez pleaded...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Miguel Perez, 42, of Corona, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff to 11 years and three months in prison for possessing more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1 kilogram heroin with intent to distribute, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A 33-year-old citizen of Mexico, who was illegally residing in Kent, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 22 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres said in court that he was lured to the U.S. by...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The final defendant in a Southeast Alaska drug trafficking conspiracy pleaded guilty today to conspiring to traffic drugs and launder money connected to a transnational drug trafficking enterprise. According to court documents, on Aug. 24, 2022, U.S. Postal Inspectors seized a suspicious package addressed to Patricia Seal-Uttke...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FULGENCIO CARDENAS-RIVERA (“CARDENAS-RIVERA”), age 35, a resident of Houston, Texas, pled guilty on April 15, 2025, before United States District Judge Brandon S. Long to possession, with intent to distribute, five hundred (500) grams or more of cocaine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson. According...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – SAUL MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ (“MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ”), age 38, a resident of Texas, was sentenced on April 30, 2025, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of...