United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - On February 19, 2015, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against 25 defendants charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances in the municipality of Yauco, PR, announced Vito S. Guarino, Special Agent in (SAC)...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo and a U.S. naval vessel with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment onboard apprehended a Russian smuggler and intercepted 1,729 pounds of marijuana aboard a Finnish-flagged sailing vessel in the Caribbean Sea Saturday, approximately 130 nautical miles south of...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Drug Enforcement (DEA), Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’(ICE) Homeland Security (HSI) seized a 989 (2,176 pounds) cocaine shipment and apprehended 13 men following an at-sea interdiction Tuesday, February 3rd, of a delivery vessel and coastal freighter, approximately...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Ross William Ulbricht, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road,” was found guilty yesterday on all seven counts in connection with his operation and ownership of Silk Road, a...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Hector Morales, 36, of the Bronx, was sentenced today by the Honorable Gary L. Sharpe to 30 years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt. Additionally, the judge imposed a term of 20...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Robert M. Faiella, a/k/a “BTCKing,” an underground Bitcoin exchanger, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his role in knowingly transmitting nearly $1 million in Bitcoins intended to facilitate...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - On January 15, 2015, defendant Javier Carrillo was arrested upon his arrival to the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport from the Dominican Republic. Carrillo supplied multi-kilogram loads of cocaine to the group of 10 defendants indicted on July 16, 2014, operation Voodoo Sam II, by...

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jorge Melendez, 44, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture more than 100 marijuana plants, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge William Skretny. The defendant was also ordered to...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Leonard Marchetta, a physician’s assistant, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to distribute a massive quantity of oxycodone out of a Staten Island-based medical clinic he oversaw. During a...

MINEOLA, N.Y. - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice was joined by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and city and federal officials yesterday afternoon to announce the dismantling of a multi-million dollar illegal drug pipeline which ran directly from Mexico to New York City and Long Island as part of...