DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
250 Results - Showing 181 to 190
PRESS RELEASE

Leader of International Drug Trafficking Organization and His Trusted Lieutenant Plead Guilty to Federal Charges

SEATTLE – A top leader of a violent international drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in the Puget Sound region, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Luis Arturo Magana-Ramirez, 34, of Fife, Washington, faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Dealing Pilot Who Attempted to Hire a Hitman is Sentenced to Federal Prison

MEDFORD, Ore.—A Josephine County, Oregon man who distributed marijuana throughout the U.S. using his private airplane, and who hired a hitman to kill a drug trafficking associate, was sentenced to federal prison today. John Tobe Larson, 71, was sentenced to 35 months in federal prison and five years of supervised...
PRESS RELEASE

Idaho Man Sentenced to 48 Months for Distributing Fentanyl

BOISE, Idaho – On Friday, July 1, 2022, Dakota James Hoffman, 29, of Bellevue, Idaho, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for distribution of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced. According to court records, Hoffman distributed oxycodone pills to a man with the initials A.K. who overdosed on...
PRESS RELEASE

Leader of Multi-State Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking, Firearms Possession, and Money Laundering Charges

SEATTLE – The Arlington, Washington based leader of a prolific and violent drug trafficking ring pleaded guilty this week to federal drug, gun, and money laundering crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and carrying...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Charges Target Drug Trafficking Organization Bringing 20+ Kilo Loads of Meth to Washington

TACOMA, Wash. – Multiple members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring were indicted last week in U.S. District Court for seven federal felonies related to their drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Some of the conspirators, have been charged in state court over the last ten years, but fled the...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Jury Convicts Idaho Man for Trafficking Meth and Heroin

POCATELLO, Idaho – After a four-day trial, a federal jury sitting in Pocatello found Adam Lee Vallely 46, of Pocatello, Idaho, guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of possession with the intent to...
PRESS RELEASE

15 Years in Federal Prison for Meth Trafficking and Child Exploitation

SPOKANE, Wash. – On June 3, 2022, United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., sentenced Lorenzo Jimenez Alanis, 47, of Mabton, Washington, to 15 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine, along with downloading and possessing a large collection of child pornography. Judge Mendoza also ordered Alanis to serve five...
PRESS RELEASE

Monroe Father and Son Sentenced to Prison for Money Laundering and Illegal Marijuana Business

Seattle – A father and son who ran a multimillion-dollar illegal marijuana business in Monroe, Washington, were each sentenced to five-year prison terms today, on drug and money laundering charges. Kenneth Warren Rhule, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and laundering...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Recognizes First Ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day

SEATTLE– In an effort to save lives, DEA is proud to join “Song for Charlie” and many of our valued public health, non-profit, and law enforcement partners in recognizing the first ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day. This day is an effort to educate individuals around the dangerous threat that fentanyl...
PRESS RELEASE

High-ranking member of violent drug trafficking ring sentenced to nine years in prison

Seattle – A significant drug distributor for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nine years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Adrian Izazaga-Martinez, 32, of Kent, Washington, was ordering 8-pound loads of methamphetamine. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District...