United States Drug Enforcement Administration

(ATLANTA, Ga.) – Edgar Valdez-Villareal, a/k/a La Barbie, who was born in the U.S. and rose to be a high-level leader of Mexico’s Beltran-Leyva Cartel, has been sentenced to 49 years and one month in federal prison on charges of cocaine trafficking and money laundering. “Edgar Valdez-Villareal a/k/a “La Barbie”...

(MONTGOMERY, Ala.) - On Monday, June 11, 2018, a physician, Dr. Willie J. Chester, 65, of Pike Road, Alabama, pleaded guilty in the ongoing “pill mill prosecution” arising out of a now-closed Montgomery medical office, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and United States...

(HATTIESBURG, Miss.) - Juan Pablo Zamora Gomez, 32, of Modesto, California, pled guilty yesterday before a U.S. District U.S. District Judge to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith and U.S. Attorney...

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) – R. Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced today that Dr. Michael Alson Smith, 65, a former Mt. Holly, N.C. family practice physician, appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to drug distribution, health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges...

(ATLANTA) – Victor Aguirre-Rodriguez was sentenced to federal prison for his role in a Mexican methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking organization that distributed approximately 100 kilograms of methamphetamine per week (valued at $1.75 million per week) in the Atlanta area. Aguirre-Rodriguez was convicted by a federal jury on February 16, 2018...

(JACKSON, Miss.) - Eleven individuals are facing federal drug charges in multiple indictments unsealed on Wednesday targeting a large, multi-state drug trafficking operation in East Central Mississippi, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith, U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles...

RALEIGH, N.C. - The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announces the arrest of Akram Abdel-Aziz, 50, on drug related charges. Abdel-Aziz is charged in a criminal complaint with the possession with intent to distribute a quantity of 5F-ADB, a synthetic cannabinoid...

(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) - Yesterday, a federal judge imposed a 16-year prison sentence on the last of nine defendants in a Birmingham-based conspiracy to distribute multiple kilograms of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in Jefferson County in 2015 and 2016, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - During the past few weeks, three more health care providers have pleaded guilty in the ongoing “pill mill” prosecution arising out of a now-closed Montgomery medical office, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. That...

RALEIGH, N.C. - Jorge Armando Ramirez-Lira, also known as Negro, Jorge Beltran-Carillo, and Edgar Nava-Baltazar, was sentenced to an additional eight years and one month in prison for importing heroin into the U.S. from Colombia and laundering the drug proceeds. “DEA is fully committed to tirelessly pursuing criminals who sell...