United States Drug Enforcement Administration

McALLEN, Texas - Two McAllen men have received significant sentences for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana and conspiring to launder the drug proceeds, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Alberto Alaniz, 51, and Jose...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - U.S. Customs and Border (CBP) Office of Air and Marine Agents intercepted a vessel Wednesday evening attempting to smuggle 42 bales of cocaine, totaling 2,425 (1,100 kilos), with an approximated street value of $30.8 million, south of the island of Vieques; an eastern island off...

HOUSTON - Former Houston Police (HPD) officer Marcos E. Carrion has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a drug conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Carrion entered a guilty plea to the charge Thursday...

LAREDO, Texas - Jose Manuel Saldivar-Farias aka “Z-31” or “El Borrado” has been charged with conspiracy to possess marijuana allegations after illegally entering the U.S., announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Saldivar-Farias, 27, is alleged to be a...

McALLEN, Texas - Jose Urbano Cortinas, 29, has been ordered to prison for nearly 23 years following his conviction of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Cortinas, of Memphis...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Jose Luis Zuniga-Hernandez, 47, aka Wicho or XW or Commandante Wicho, has been ordered to federal prison along with his brother Armando Arizmendi Hernandez, 37, aka Commandante Mando or XW2 for conspiracy to import more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana...

LAREDO, Texas - Seven people were sentenced this week for their roles in a drug conspiracy involving the shipment of cocaine and methamphetamine from Laredo to Dallas and Houston, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. U.S. District Court...

KERRVILLE, Texas - Dr. Richard B. Debenedetto, of Kerville, TX, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment in a Texas State Correctional Facility for prescribing a controlled substance with no legitimate medical purpose, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. (Houston Division), Kerr County District Attorney E...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - On February 19, 2015, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against 25 defendants charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances in the municipality of Yauco, PR, announced Vito S. Guarino, Special Agent in (SAC)...

LAREDO, Texas - A total of 12 drug traffickers have been handed federal prison sentences for their convictions related to a far-reaching drug trafficking conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Edgar Loera and Miguel Angel Vives-Macias were...