DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
24 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Suspicious Travel Leads To DEA Seizure Of 670,000 Fake Pills In Colorado & New Mexico

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...
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Attorney's Office and DEA Announce Federal Charges Against Albuquerque Based Drug Trafficking Organization

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...
PRESS RELEASE

California Man Sentenced for Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – A California man was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for attempting to transport over 2 kilograms of heroin by train from Bernalillo County to North Carolina. There is no parole in the federal system. According to court documents, on February 26, 2021, Mario A. Serna was...
PRESS RELEASE

La DEA lanza una Nueva Línea de Comunicación para Incentivar Información sobre un Narcotraficante Operando en Colorado

DENVER – El 17 de enero de 2024, la División de Campo de las Montañas Rocosas de la DEA de los Estados Unidos se unió al Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos para anunciar una oferta de recompensa de hasta $5 millones de dólares a cambio de información que...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Releases New Tip Line to Encourage Information on Drug Kingpin Operating Throughout Colorado

DENVER – On January 17, 2024, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division joined the U.S. Department of State to announce a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mexican national Jesus Gonzalez- Penuelas, also known as “Chuy” Gonzalez...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA-Led Investigation Dismantles Albuquerque-Based Drug Trafficking Organization

Note: View the Superseding Indictment . ALBUQUERQUE – Towanda R. Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Division and Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced the results of a law enforcement operation that resulted in fifteen defendants being...
PRESS RELEASE

Albuquerque Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Drug Trafficking Offenses

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Eric Castañeda, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division, and Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Rafael Columbie was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A federal jury convicted Columbie, 54, of...
PRESS RELEASE

Great Falls Woman Sentenced to Five Years for Dealing Meth and Heroin

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Great Falls woman who admitted to dealing methamphetamine and heroin for a drug trafficking organization based in Mexico was sentenced on Monday to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Katie Marie Marceau, 38, pleaded guilty in March to...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA El Paso Division Announces the Seizure of Over 9 Million Deadly Doses of Fentanyl in 2022

El Paso – A few weeks ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the seizure of over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder this calendar year. The El Paso Division, which covers West Texas and the whole state of New Mexico, seized 2,886,783...
PRESS RELEASE

Butte Drug Trafficking Organization with Ties to the Sinaloa Cartel Dismantled

BUTTE, Mont. — A multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which brought massive quantities of methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and heroin to Butte for redistribution, has resulted in the federal convictions of 22 people. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich hosted a press...