United States Drug Enforcement Administration

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The leader of a drug trafficking organization based in the Inland Empire was sentenced today to 168 months of imprisonment by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. Salvador Gonzalez-Chavez, 32, Fontana, was convicted last September of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, heroin...

JAN 15 - LOS ANGELES - A “keyholder” who oversaw the criminal activities of the Azusa 13 street gang and its long-running plot to violate the civil rights of African-Americans in the City of Azusa was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison. Santiago Rios, also known as “Chico,” 48...

DEC 6 - LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement authorities this morning arrested 18 defendants named in three federal grand jury indictments stemming from Operation Roman Empire, a 2½-year investigation into South Los Angeles street gangs allegedly controlled by a Mexican Mafia member who directs criminal activities through his daughter. A...

JUANA DIAZ, Puerto Rico - On October 26, 2012, a federal grand jury returned two five-count indictments charging 50 individuals with drug trafficking as a result of an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the Puerto Rico Police (PRPD)- Ponce Strike Force, announced today by United States Attorney...

DENVER - The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as DEA special agents or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme. This criminal activity has occurred in the Rocky Mountain region in the past, but is now occurring with much more frequency...

LOS ANGELES - A dozen people associated with a chain of nine marijuana stores that operated across Orange and Los Angeles counties were arrested this morning on federal drug trafficking charges. The 12 arrested are among 14 people named in a 14-count indictment returned last week by a federal grand...

LOS ANGELES - A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment that charges 16 defendants with being part of a drug trafficking organization that illegally obtained and distributed more than 900,000 OxyContin pills obtained in part through fraud against public insurance programs such as Medicare. One of the defendants...

LOS ANGELES - On October 12, 2012, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Mr. Aaron Sandusky, 41, of Rancho Cucamonga, former president of G3 Holistics, Inc., a marijuana business operating in the Inland Empire, of one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana plants, to possess with intent to distribute...

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico - On September 27, 2012, a federal grand jury charged 53 individuals in a superseding indictment as a result of an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement (DEA), the U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) Homeland Security (HSI), and the Puerto Rico Police (PRPD)- Fajardo Strike Force, United...

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles area toy wholesaler, its two owners, and the company’s primary bookkeeper pleaded guilty today to federal charges related to their participation in an elaborate scheme known as a Black Market Peso Exchange, which enables drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and Colombia to launder proceeds...