United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS, TX - Twelve alleged drug traffickers were arrested Wednesday in Operation Tormenta De Arena (“Sandstorm”), announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division During the bust in Lubbock, Brownfield, and Lamesa, DEA agents and their law enforcement partners also seized roughly 27 pounds...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Charles “Man Man” Thompson to 45 years in prison today. The 35-year-old St. Louis resident pleaded guilty in January 2020 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine; three counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking...

DALLAS, TX- An Arlington physician has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for fraud and drug crimes, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. In July 2021, a federal jury convicted physician Clinton Battle, 69, of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one...

BENTON, Ill. – Jose Angulo, 51, of Phoenix, was sentenced on March 24, 2022, to 30 years for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, money laundering, and distribution of methamphetamine. Evidence demonstrated that between 2018 through November of 2019, Angulo was responsible for shipping more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine to the...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A West Plains, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in Howell, Greene, and Texas counties. Luis Ortiz Rodriguez, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 20 years and 10...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Trenton, Missouri, men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Grundy County, Mo., and elsewhere. Troy Lee Palmer, 24, and Dallas W. Hughs, 26, were charged in a six-count indictment returned under seal by...

DALLAS, TX - A Fort Worth man who allegedly sold fake Percocet pills laced with fentanyl has been charged with a federal drug crime, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas Troy Wright, 40, was indicted on three counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Dixon, Missouri, woman was charged in federal court today with possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Connie M. Gonzales, 51, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., with one count of possessing methamphetamine to distribute. According to an affidavit filed...

WICHITA, KAN. – A federal jury convicted two Wichita men on charges related to an inmate-run drug trafficking ring headquartered from a prison cell in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Following the presentation of court documents and evidence at trial, a jury found Kevin Lewis, 58, and Travis Vontress, 45, guilty...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A California man was charged in federal court today with smuggling more than four kilograms of counterfeit pills that contain fentanyl aboard a bus traveling through Kansas City, Missouri, from Los Angeles, Calif. Matthew John Gomez, 27, was charged with one count of possessing fentanyl with...