United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON - Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known by various aliases including “El Chapo,” has arrived in the United States to face criminal charges in connection with his leadership of the Mexican organized crime syndicate known as the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzman Loera is charged in six separate indictments throughout the United...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

WASHINGTON - McKesson (McKesson), one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances (CSA), the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) announced today. The nationwide settlement requires McKesson to suspend sales of controlled substances from distribution...

WASHINGTON - At the invitation of the China Ministry of Public (MPS), the Drug Enforcement (DEA) Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg visited China this week to discuss issues of mutual concern and to build on DEA’s existing relationship with Chinese counter-narcotics law enforcement authorities. Rosenberg emphasized the increased cooperation between the...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M - Seven defendants are facing federal methamphetamine trafficking charges in four cases involving seizures last week of more than 52 pounds of methamphetamine. Three of the cases are the result of interdiction investigations at the Greyhound Bus Station and Amtrak Train Station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The fourth...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M - Shannon Lamont Jackson, 38, of Clovis, New Mexico, was sentenced yesterday to 77 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his heroin trafficking conviction. Jackson, a career offender whose criminal history includes felony convictions for drug trafficking and violent crimes, was prosecuted...

ALBUQUERQUE - Juan Velazquez, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to distributing cocaine and participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Doña Ana County, N.M. Velazquez was arrested in Sept. 2016, on an indictment alleging cocaine trafficking charges. The 18-count...

ALBUQUERQUE - Amber Kay Otero, 31, of Carlsbad, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to the misdemeanor offense of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance. Otero was arrested on Sept. 23, 2016, following an investigation initiated after the DEA received a report of theft or loss...

ALBUQUERQUE - David Nunez of Santa Fe, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to the misdemeanor offense of dispensing a controlled substance, testosterone, without a prescription. Nunez was a licensed pharmacist and the owner of a pharmacy in Santa Fe at the time he committed the...

ALBUQUERQUE - Ivan Romero, 40, the leader of a heroin trafficking organization based in Taos County, N.M. pleaded guilty earlier this week to federal heroin and money laundering charges filed as the result of a 15-month DEA-led multi-agency investigation. His brother, Ricco Romero, 29, and his wife, Melissa Romero, 37...