PRESS RELEASE

DEA Chicago Field Division Welcomes New Special Agent in Charge

… SAC Smith was assigned to the Foreign Operations Division, Mexico, Central America and Canada Section at DEA …
PRESS RELEASE

China-Based Chemical Manufacturing Companies and Employees Indicted for Alleged Fentanyl Manufacturing and Distribution

… throughout the world, including to the United States and Mexico, where drug cartels and traffickers combine the … Organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel based in Sinaloa, Mexico and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación based in Jalisco, Mexico, receive fentanyl precursors and synthetic opioids …
PRESS RELEASE

DEA and U.S. Attorney's Office Announce Guilty Plea in High-Speed Chase and Drug Trafficking Case

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … Department, Otero County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Devon Aragon …
PRESS RELEASE

Five Plead Guilty to Drug, Firearms, and Immigration Offenses

… - (662) 234-8542 JACKSON, MS– Five individuals with ties to Mexico have pled guilty over the past month to felony … firearms and machine gun conversion devices for delivery to Mexico. According to court documents, Rosendo Gonzalez Mora, … of life in prison. Rosendo Gonzalez Mora, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty on June 17, 2024, to possessing a …
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Indictment Alleges Alliance Between Sinaloa Cartel and Money Launderers Linked to Chinese Underground Banking

… Get Smart About Drugs Just Think Twice Domestic China and Mexico Took Law Enforcement Actions Following Justice … indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with …
PRESS RELEASE

Midland DTO Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … Castillo-Lopez aka “Pepo,” 30, of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico, supplied a co-conspirator with a firearm, along with …
PRESS RELEASE

Largest Fentanyl Bust in DEA History: Authorities Seize Over 400 Kilograms of Fentanyl in Record-Shattering Operation

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … fentanyl pills from Lovato ’s stash house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lovato  is charged with possession with intent to …
PRESS RELEASE

Albuquerque Man Charged with Conspiracy Related to Recovery of Tiger Cub in Albuquerque

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … conspired with others to import the tiger cub from Mexico into New Mexico and sell it for thousands of dollars. …
PRESS RELEASE

Oakland Money Services Business Owner Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering

… of funds from Oakland to other parts of the United States, Mexico, Honduras, and other foreign countries.   Garcia … the cash be wired to well-known drug trafficking areas of Mexico or to persons in Honduras, without recording the true … confidential source to wire $9,200 in cash to recipients in Mexico without providing an ID or using the sender’s real …
PRESS RELEASE

Two Defendants Arrested During 2023 Joint Enforcement Operation in Carlsbad Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Charges

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Brian Kain Purdy and Sabino …
PRESS RELEASE

Operation Cash Out Launched Across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana

… with their poison. Fentanyl pills are manufactured in Mexico for as little two cents per pill, yet can sell for … estimated to be a multi-billion-dollar enterprise for the Mexico-based cartels. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel … cash smuggling and money laundering networks. According to Mexico’s Central Bank, Banxico, more than $63 billion in …
PRESS RELEASE

Leader of International Drug Trafficking Group’s Chicago Operations Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison

… prison. Carrazco-Martinez ran the Chicago operations of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization allegedly led by … of the organization to traffic cocaine and heroin from Mexico to the Chicago area. Carrazco-Martinez … customers, and sending illicit cash proceeds back to Mexico. A federal jury in Chicago last year convicted …
PRESS RELEASE

Armed Drug Cartel Member Sentenced to Over 20 Years in Prison for Trafficking Hundreds of Kilos of Cocaine and Methamphetamine

… have devastated communities in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere. Today’s sentence sends another clear … in the United States, as well as unprecedented violence in Mexico, our neighbor. The DEA is relentlessly committed to … of the most powerful, violent, and prolific drug cartels in Mexico. The CJNG kills, tortures, corrupts, and traffics …
PRESS RELEASE

Illegal Alien Sentenced to more than Three Years in Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl

… Claudia Montano Gonzalez, 43, a native and citizen of Mexico, to 39 months in prison. In October 2024, Gonzalez … David Angel Alejandres, facilitated the transaction from Mexico, but Gonzalez delivered the fentanyl. After obtaining …
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican Nationals Sentenced for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Offenses

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) …
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Attorney's Office Secures Guilty Pleas in Albuquerque Fentanyl Case

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico is prosecuting the case. # # # Drug Trafficking Fake …
PRESS RELEASE

Leaders of International Drug Trafficking and Firearms Smuggling Organization Sentenced to 21 and 20 Years in Prison

… organization smuggled substantial quantities of firearms to Mexico to trade them for hundreds of kilograms of … of kilograms of crystal and liquid methamphetamine from Mexico into Texas and further distributed it throughout the … , or “CDH,” because it was based in Houston and had ties to Mexico-based drug trafficking cartels.  CDH was also an …
PRESS RELEASE

DEA’s Fentanyl Free America Billboards Remind Omaha Community of Local Threat, Work to be Done

… from drug threats. We work investigations that lead us into Mexico and chip away at the cartels pushing lethal …
PRESS RELEASE

Florida Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Conspiring to Launder Money and Distribute Fentanyl

… of drug proceeds to be paid out to drug suppliers in Mexico for the purpose of laundering the cash. In total, …
PRESS RELEASE

DEA-Led Operation Dismantles Clovis-Based Drug Trafficking Organization

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge of …
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican Felon Returns to Prison for Meth Trafficking

… He served 48 months in prison before being removed to Mexico. Esquivel illegally returned to the U.S. in 2022, …
PRESS RELEASE

Sheriff’s Deputies Allegedly Tipped Off DEA Target

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … the execution of a state search warrant in Los Ranchos, New Mexico, in July 2021. After finding methamphetamine inside …
PRESS RELEASE

Final Defendant Arrested During 2023 Joint Enforcement Operation in Carlsbad Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Offenses

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … which he knew to contain drugs from a co-conspirator in Mexico. Cerezo-Espidio was supposed to transport the drugs …
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican National Admits Laundering $1.5 million on behalf of Cartel

… States, Canada, Europe and Australia and move them back to Mexico.  From 2016 to 2019, Valadez recruited others in … in possession of drug proceeds that needed to be moved to Mexico. Valadez then coordinated the transfer of proceeds back to Mexico through financial institutions.  Valadez and …
PRESS RELEASE

Barrio Azteca Gunmen Who Committed Consulate Murders in Ciudad Juarez Sentenced to Life in Prison

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … directly responsible for the March 2010 murders in Juarez, Mexico of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband, and the …
PRESS RELEASE

Communities Nationwide Turn In Nearly 630,000 Pounds of Unneeded Medications on DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … 1,657 pounds in West Texas and 3,393 pounds in New Mexico . This effort to empty medicine cabinets helps to …
PRESS RELEASE

Accused Drug Cartel Broker, 28 Others Indicted in St. Louis

… of defendants in multiple states in just a few hours.” “Mexico-based drug cartels should never be underestimated for … alleges that since at least 2017, Rosas-Vargas was a Mexico-based broker who obtained fentanyl, meth and cocaine … and his co-conspirators wired some drug proceeds back to Mexico and used couriers to transport bulk shipments of …
PRESS RELEASE

Cooperation Between United States and Mexican Law Enforcement Leads to Significant Actions Against Transnational Drug Trafficking Organization

… organization operating in Nogales, Sonora, along the U.S.-Mexico border. After extensive bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Fiscalía General …
PRESS RELEASE

Year in Review: DEA Innovates to Fight Fentanyl

… Social Accounts X Robert “Eric” Castañeda Domestic New Mexico, El Paso, Alpine, and Midland Texas Additional … 915-479-2540 Michelle.Rincon@dea.gov Division Contacts New Mexico Albuquerque - (505) 452-4500 Las Cruces - (575) … DEA El Paso Field Division, which covers West Texas and New Mexico, seized 1.5 million fentanyl pills and nearly 165 …
PRESS RELEASE

Ex-Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna Convicted of Engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Taking Millions in Cash Bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel

… The Once-Highest Ranking Law Enforcement Official in Mexico Is Now a Convicted Felon BROOKLYN, NY - Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012, was convicted today by a federal … As proven at trial, from 2006 to 2012, Garcia Luna was Mexico’s top law enforcement official, serving as Secretary …