United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man facing federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly trying to smuggle at least a kilogram of heroin on a plane leaving Los Angeles International (LAX) was scheduled to make his first court appearance this afternoon. James Mitchell, 25, who resides in Pico-Union, was arrested...

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...

LOS ANGELES - Today throughout Los Angeles and neighboring counties, as well as in Arizona and Utah, agents from the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and officers from several state and local law enforcement agencies executed approximately 29 state search and arrest warrants. This enforcement operation culminates a nearly year-long investigation into...

LOS ANGELES - A Carlsbad man was sentenced this week to five years and three months in federal prison for his part in an international money laundering organization that conspired to move more than $15 million dollars in drug money for organizations that included the Sinaloa Cartel. Bradley John Martin...

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles doctor has been convicted of federal “structuring” charges for making cash deposits totaling nearly a half million dollars in an effort to circumvent federal reporting requirements. Washington Bryan II, 48, of Westwood, was found guilty of 29 counts of structuring Thursday afternoon by a...

LOS ANGELES - Authorities have arrested 17 members and associates of the Wilmas street gang who are named in a federal racketeering indictment that alleges acts of murder, attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, robbery and witness intimidation - as well as a series of armed attacks on law enforcement officers dating...

SANTA, ANA, Calif. - The lead defendant in an indictment that outlined a wide-reaching conspiracy to smuggle, manufacture and distribute more than $12 million worth of synthetic drugs has pleaded guilty in federal court. Sean Libbert, 41, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to a series of charges related...