United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that a federal jury returned a guilty verdict on Rafael Columbie on Dec. 1. The jury convicted Columbie, 53, of Albuquerque, on one count each of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rosa De Santiago, 48, of Sunland Park, New Mexico, was sentenced in federal court today to 12 years in prison for her part in a drug trafficking and international money laundering conspiracy. De Santiago was one of 22 defendants charged in a 44-count superseding indictment on Aug...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jose Manuel Prieto, Jr., of Apple Valley, California, was sentenced earlier this week to 97 months in prison for his involvement in a methamphetamine distribution and money laundering conspiracy. He pleaded guilty to the aforementioned charges on August 19, 2020. “I’m extremely proud of the work done...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Toby Randall Walker, 36, appeared in federal court in Albuquerque on Oct. 1 on multiple drug and firearm charges brought under the Department of Justice’s Operation LeGend. According to a criminal complaint, on Sept. 29, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration encountered Walker and located 1,490 grams...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera sentenced Raymond Moya, 36, of Albuquerque, to life imprisonment in federal court today for his conviction on two heroin trafficking offenses, including a distribution of heroin on Aug. 12, 2011, that resulted in the death of Cameron Weiss, an 18-year-old La...