United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALBUQUERQUE – Two Albuquerque drug dealers pleaded guilty to federal charges after attempting to sell 30,000 fentanyl pills, containing approximately 3,200 grams of the drug, to an undercover law enforcement agent. According to court documents, on December 6, 2023, Miguel Antonio Ramirez, 23, and Isaiah Anthony Aragon, 24, conspired to...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 42, of Wittmann, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 180 months in prison. Porras-Ochoa pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of Cocaine, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Prescription...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Heriberto Lopez-Landeros, 44, of Avondale, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Landeros pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on August 5, 2024. Lopez-Landeros was the head of an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization responsible...

DENVER – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) announces it has seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills – or “fake” pills – in Colorado, with one month remaining in the year. This breaks last year’s record-setting 2.61 million pills seized in the state. “It is an unfortunate...

COLORADO SPRINGS – An incoming tip based on the premise of “see something, say something” leads to the seizure of approximately 670,000 fentanyl pills in Colorado and New Mexico. Earlier this month, a tip out of Albuquerque led to the arrest of a man in Colorado Springs, suspected of transporting...

El Paso, Texas – Today, as part of the 50th anniversary of the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosted various local and state law enforcement agencies as part of the EPIC 2024 Law Enforcement Summit. These agencies, who came from various communities across the country...

El Paso, Texas – On Oct. 26, DEA and over 4,400 law enforcement partners collected nearly 630,000 pounds of unused medications at 4,600 locations nationwide. The El Paso Division collected 1,657 pounds in West Texas and 3,393 pounds in New Mexico. This effort to empty medicine cabinets helps to prevent...

Phoenix, Ariz. – DEA and local law enforcement partners collected 5,367 pounds of unneeded medications in Arizona during the 26th National Take Back Day on October 26, 2024. Nationwide, 630,000 pounds of unneeded medications were turned in at 4,600 locations. Since its inception, DEA’s National Prescription Take Back Day has...

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshal Service, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Doña Ana Sheriff’s Office, conducted a coordinated operation to dismantle a significant drug trafficking network in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The operation targeted 15...

ALBUQUERQUE – Five members of a drug trafficking organization based in Albuquerque have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Tomas Rubalcaba, 45, Joaquin Rubalcada, 40, and Humberto Gastelum, 65, appeared before a federal judge last week and will remain in custody pending...