United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A San Clemente man pleaded guilty this morning to federal drug trafficking and tax offenses in relation to a string of nine illegal marijuana storefronts that generated millions of dollars in income. John Melvin Walker, also known as “Pops,” 56, of San Clemente, pleaded guilty to...

MARCH 20 - RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Federal and state authorities this morning arrested 10 defendants charged in a federal criminal complaint that accuses them of participating in a wide-ranging drug conspiracy that operated marijuana grow houses across Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. As part of the investigation led...

DENVER - Raul Mendoza, 48, Julia Castillo-Caraveo, 28, both of Denver, Colorado, and Isidro Noe Mendoza-Ortiz, 25, of Thornton, Colorado, were arrested on March 5, 2013 for structuring and money laundering, the United States Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement (DEA), IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Department of Homeland (HSI) announced. All...

LOS ANGELES - A member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and longtime leader of the Puente-13 criminal street gang was sentenced on March 6, 2013, to life in federal prison after being convicted last year on federal racketeering charges that included a brutal stabbing designed to deter victims from...

LOS ANGELES - Two men, and the import-export company they allegedly used to move millions of dollars linked to illegal activity from the United States to Mexico, are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon after being indicted on federal charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and structuring cash...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The leader of a drug trafficking organization based in the Inland Empire was sentenced today to 168 months of imprisonment by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. Salvador Gonzalez-Chavez, 32, Fontana, was convicted last September of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, heroin...

JAN 15 - LOS ANGELES - A “keyholder” who oversaw the criminal activities of the Azusa 13 street gang and its long-running plot to violate the civil rights of African-Americans in the City of Azusa was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison. Santiago Rios, also known as “Chico,” 48...

DENVER - Barbra M. Roach, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Denver Field Division, Scott W. Storey, District Attorney for the Colorado First Judicial District, and Ted Mink, Sheriff of Jefferson County, Colorado announce the dismantlement of an interstate methamphetamine and cocaine smuggling enterprise operating in Colorado, Arizona, and...

DEC 6 - LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement authorities this morning arrested 18 defendants named in three federal grand jury indictments stemming from Operation Roman Empire, a 2½-year investigation into South Los Angeles street gangs allegedly controlled by a Mexican Mafia member who directs criminal activities through his daughter. A...

DENVER - The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as DEA special agents or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme. This criminal activity has occurred in the Rocky Mountain region in the past, but is now occurring with much more frequency...