United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Dallas, TX - An Albuquerque mother who concealed a deadly dose of fentanyl inside her children’s luggage pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal drug crime. Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, was indicted in November 2022. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of fentanyl before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. In...

DALLAS, TX - A drug distributer who was selling fentanyl-laced counterfeit M30 pills to a Carrollton middle schooler shortly before her fatal overdose pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas Rafael Soliz, Jr., 23, was indicted in March...

DALLAS, TEXAS - A top source of supply in the Carrollton fentanyl overdoses case has been charged with a federal drug crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, was charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule II controlled...

DALLAS, TX - A Wichita Falls drug dealer and his ex-girlfriend who sold fentanyl to 27-year-old man who overdosed and died in June 2020 have plead guilty to drug crimes, announced Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas. Lionel DeSaun Henderson, 33, and his former girlfriend, Shameka...

DALLAS - Two drug traffickers who plotted to assassinate a DEA task force office have plead guilty, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of Dallas Field Division Manuel Gomez-Garcia, 35, and Jorge Humberto Velazco Larios, 29, were indicted in the summer of 2020. Mr. Gomez pleaded guilty to...

DALLAS, TX – A Panamanian national has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking violations during his federal trial in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division. Jorge Albeiro Silva-Salazar, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five...

Dallas - Twenty alleged drug dealers and their associates have been arrested and charged in “Operation Shut Down Corner,” announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. The operation – which involved more than 150 agents and officers from the North Texas OCEDTF Strike Force – focused on Hamilton...

DALLAS - A heroin trafficker who fled the scene of a controlled delivery has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez Frank Alex Juarez, 22, of Terrell, Texas, pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute heroin. He...

LUBBOCK, TX - A dozen Lubbock drug traffickers have been sentenced to a combined 106 years in federal prison. The defendants were arrested during a DEA operation called Los Perros De Nieve (“Operation Snow Dogs”), which also resulted in the seizure of multiple kilograms of cocaine, more than a dozen...

DALLAS - Attorney General Javier Caraballo, of the Republic of Panama, joined DEA Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division Eduardo A. Chavez; Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, for the Eastern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin of HSI, Dallas Field Office; FBI...