United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EL PASO – A Cuban national living in Fort Hancock was sentenced today to 460 months in prison for drugs, firearms and immigration crimes. On July 23, 2021, Gilberto Morales, 57, was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to possess 1,000 kilograms or more of...

SAN DIEGO – Perry Edward Davis of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison for distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of Joshua Chambers, a 25-year-old husband and father of two young children from El Cajon. Davis was convicted by a federal...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jeffery Dean Biddle, 41, of Deming, New Mexico, made an initial appearance in federal court on March 2 facing charges of production and attempted production of child pornography, receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography, and enticement and attempted enticement. Biddle will remain in custody pending a...

EL PASO – A Mexican national was sentenced today to life in prison for his role in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations. According to court documents, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, was a former Chihuahua State police officer and a long-time member of the Sinaloa Cartel...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Kennewick, Washington, man was sentenced today to 145 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine. According to court documents, Juan Gabriel Rodriguez-Preciado, 44, facilitated the trafficking of kilogram quantities of cocaine between a Mexican cartel...

PECOS – Yesterday, a New Mexico man was sentenced to 240 months in prison for importing and possessing methamphetamine and 60 months in prison for a firearm charge. According to court documents, Jarod Richard Melancon, 38, was arrested on May 5, 2021, after a federal search warrant was executed on...

ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke man was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison for conspiring with others to traffic dangerous drugs from sources across the country into the Roanoke Valley. Stephen Cornell Vaughn Jr., 39, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to...

EL PASO – On February 23, a Mexican national was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a large marijuana conspiracy. According to court documents, Victor Gerardo Villegas, aka Victor Gerardo Villegas-Villalva, Gera, 34, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, was a member of the Gente Nueva de...

ROANOKE, Va. – Law enforcement officials and the United States Attorney’s Office announced today the recent arrests of thirteen individuals on a variety of federal charges, including distribution of heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, possession of explosives by a felon, and illegal storage of explosives. Arrested over the last two...

SAN DIEGO – Suspected drug trafficker Rafael Orlando Ramirez Barillas, a Guatemalan national who was extradited to the United States from Guatemala on Thursday, February 10, 2022 to face international cocaine trafficking and maritime smuggling charges in the Southern District of California, appeared in federal court today and was ordered...