United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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...

EL PASO - Samuel Velasco Gurrola, 41 years old, faces mandatory life in federal prison after a jury convicted him this afternoon of his role in a murder-for-hire Jurors convicted Gurrola of three counts of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and four counts of conspiracy to cause...

EL PASO - Christopher Chavez, 40, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced today to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a cocaine trafficking organization that transported large amounts of cocaine into Connecticut. Chavez also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine...

EL PASO - A Barrio (BA) gang associate was sentenced today to 240 months in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking offenses. Luis Humberto Hernandez Celis, aka Pac, 32, of El Paso, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of the Western District of...

EL PASO - Today, federal, state and local authorities arrested seven individuals in the El Paso area based on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. An eighth defendant was arrested back in June 2016. Those arrested today include: Manuel Almanzar ,44, San Elizario, TX Oralia Almanza, 43, San Elizario Adrian...

EL PASO - A Barrio (BA) gang member pleaded guilty today for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy, Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy of the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) El Paso Field Division; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Richard L...

ALBUQUERQUE - Daniel Jiron, 41, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court to heroin and methamphetamine trafficking charges. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Jiron will be sentenced between 72 to 96 months to prison followed by five years of supervised release. The guilty plea was announced...