United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX - On June 18, 2014, the final defendant was sentenced in connection with Operation Clean Green - a multi-year investigation conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service. Hector Raul Ortiz-Tarazon, Sr. and his son, Hector Francisco Ortiz, Jr. ran a drug trafficking (DTO) that shipped...

TUCSON, Ariz. - U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA)Special Agent in Charge, Doug Coleman, today announced the seizure of 89 pounds of white heroin and the arrest of seven defendants as part of an 11-month investigation. The seizure marks one of the state’s largest heroin busts. The investigation coined, “Operation Smack Talk”...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Connie Coble, 52, of Alamogordo, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to participating in a conspiracy to obtain prescription drugs by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge by filling fraudulent prescriptions at retail pharmacies. Coble and her co-defendant Sharon Carter, 57...

PHOENIX - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman today announced that o - n June 9, 2014, John Kweku Eshun, 52, of Ellenwood, Ga., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to 41 months in prison. Eshun is the 12th and final defendant sentenced in...

ODESSA, TEXAS - Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 29 individuals--24 who face federal and five who face state charges--in connection with an Odessa-based methamphetamine distribution operation announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent...

PHOENIX - The U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) unveiled a billboard in Phoenix, Arizona seeking information for the capture of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro-Quintero - . The new reward is being offered by the U.S. Department of State under the Narcotics Reward Program for information leading to the arrest and/or...

MIDLAND, Texas - Federal, state and local law enforcement and medical authorities in the Permian Basin, led by United States Attorney Robert Pitman, Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy, Midland County District Attorney Teresa Clingman and Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland are getting the word out about the dangers...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Carlos Jesus Carrasco, 24, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Carlos Carrasco and his co-defendant and cousin, Bernabe Carrasco, 34, also of El Paso...

EL PASO, Texas - Rigoberto Ruiz-Alatorre, 32, a Mexican citizen living in Denver, CO, faces a maximum of 28 years in federal prison after pleading guilty this afternoon to murdering a member of his drug trafficking organization announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Robert Romero, 26, of Santa Fe, N.M., pleaded guilty today to federal narcotics trafficking and firearms charges. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Romero will be sentenced to ten years in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release. Romero was one of five men...