United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - - Twenty-one individuals have been charged with using fraudulent prescriptions to unlawfully obtain Oxycodone, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, Second Judicial District Attorney Kari E. Brandenburg, Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) El Paso Field Division, and Executive Director Larry...

MIDLAND, TX - -In Midland today, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging 38-year-old former Odessa Police officer Jackie Lynn Thompson and five other Odessa, Texas, residents in connection with a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy announced Joseph M. Arabit, Special Agent in Charge of the El Paso Division of the...

ODESSA, Texas - Today in Midland, 68-year-old Jimmy Wayne Wright, former owner of B&L Bookstore in Odessa, was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute Methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or more commonly referred to as “bath salts,” announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A federal grand jury has indicted seven residents of Las Cruces, N.M., on conspiracy and prescription drug trafficking charges, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and Joseph M. Arabit, Special Agent in Charge of the El Paso Field Division of the Drug Enforcement (DEA). Michael Garret Schavier...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A federal grand jury in Las Cruces, N.M., yesterday returned an indictment charging Garlan R. Plumlee, 60, Justin E. Thompson, 32, and Phillip Larez, 31, all of Carlsbad, N.M., with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance analogue, distribution of a controlled substance analogue, and possession of...

EL PASO, Texas - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) today announced the results of “Project Below the Beltway”, a two-year series of investigations targeting the Sinaloa and Juarez Cartels and associated violent street gangs as part of on-going strategy against the cartels and their distribution networks in the United States. The...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - - Earlier today, Charles Padilla, 44, of Albuquerque, N.M., made his initial appearance in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Padilla is temporarily detained pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of which are scheduled...

EL PASO, Texas - In El Paso this afternoon, former El Paso County Precinct 3 Commissioner Guillermo “Willie” Gandara, Jr., 37, of El Paso, was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, U.S...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Nine individuals, who allegedly participated in a Deming, N.M., based conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine, have been charged with narcotics trafficking offenses in a federal indictment that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in Las Cruces. The indictment...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Special Agent in Charge, Joseph Arabit, Drug Enforcement Administration-El Paso Division, and United States Attorney Robert Pitman announced that in Las Cruces, NM, today, United States District Judge Robert C. Brack sentenced four defendants to federal prison for their roles in a firearms trafficking operation. Judge...