DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
53 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Omaha Division Special Agent Carlos Lavastida awarded Enrique S. Camarena Award

OMAHA, Neb. – DEA Special Agent Carlos Lavastida is one of three law enforcement officers from Iowa presented with the Enrique S. Camarena Award by the DEA and United States Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa. Lavastida, Lieutenant Brad Bollinger of the Sioux City Police Department...
PRESS RELEASE

Wisconsin heroin distributor sentenced to federal prison

OMAHA, Neb., – Jovan Marquis Harris of Milwaukee was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on each of four counts related to distributing heroin resulting in death or serious bodily injury and 20 years on two final counts as determined by U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett, Northern District...
PRESS RELEASE

Minneapolis Tactical Diversion Squad talks opioids to Special Investigative Units

OMAHA, Neb. –Two members of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration Minneapolis District Office spoke with the Minnesota chapter of the International Association of Special Investigative Units last November in Eagan, Minn., on the deadliness of opioids in America and how the DEA is addressing the epidemic at the local...
PRESS RELEASE

Fort Myers men indicted for a drug trafficking conspiracy that included the killing of an informant

TAMPA, Fla. – An indictment charging Robert Lee Ward 40, Fort Myers with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and tampering with an informant by killing him/her was unsealed today. The indictment also charges Dalton Kelvin McGriff 49, Fort Myers with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or...
PRESS RELEASE

Methamphetamine seizures rise in DEA's Omaha Division

OMAHA, Neb., – As the nation recognizes National Methamphetamine Awareness Day today, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Omaha Division announces that it has seen a three percent increase in methamphetamine seizures in one year. The division, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, registered 817 pounds of seized...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA achieves significant milestone during 16th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

MIAMI – With the robust participation of Americans nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners have now surpassed its 10 million pound goal and collected nearly 11 million pounds of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications over the course of 16 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events. During...
PRESS RELEASE

Rolling 30s Crips gang member sentenced to prison

ORLANDO, Fl a. - Jose Ramon Rivera (23, Orlando) was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in federal prison for distributing heroin and methamphetamine, possessing firearms as a convicted felon, and carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. Rivera pleaded guilty on July 12, 2018. According to court documents...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Miami-Dade County resident sentenced to over 12 years in prison for attempted international narcotics trafficking

MIAMI - On Sept. 28, 2018, Richard Senese, 39, a former Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted international narcotics trafficking. Senese, formerly of Hialeah, previously pled guilty to attempting to import cocaine into the United...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Miami-Dade County resident sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for bank fraud and money laundering schemes

MIAMI - A former Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 97 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $722,000 in restitution for his roles in bank fraud and money laundering schemes. Jose Orlando Sanchez Cristancho, a.k.a. Orlando Sanchez , 57...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Colombian councilman sentenced to fourteen years in prison for conspiring to traffic more than a thousand kilograms of cocaine

TAMPA, Fla., - Aureliano Cuero-Cuero aka "Chavo," 38, of Mosquera, Nariño, Colombia was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine on board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Cuero-Cuero pleaded guilty on May 23, 2018. According to court records, Cuero-Cuero was an...