United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX - The DEA is alerting all citizens to drug overdose deaths tied to counterfeit pills laced with powerful opioid fentanyl. Manufactured by Mexican drug trafficking (DTOs) and sold as oxycodone on the illicit drug market, fentanyl is an opioid 100 times stronger than morphine. These counterfeit pills are smuggled...

LAS CRUCES, N.M - Jessie Jesus Marquez, 37, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was sentenced last week in federal court to 121 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on narcotics trafficking charges. The sentence was announced by Special Agent in Charge Will R...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M - During a hearing yesterday, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Albuquerque, New Mexico found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Michael Gerard Smith, 55, of Albuquerque, with violating the federal narcotics and firearms laws. Today, the Magistrate Judge entered an order holding Smith in federal custody...

EL PASO, Texas - An El Paso man faces between ten years and life in federal prison after a federal jury convicted him on multiple drug trafficking charges announced El Paso’s Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge, Will R. Glaspy, and United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr. Following...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

PHOENIX - The DEA announced the recent discovery of three overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid U-47700, commonly referred to as “Pink.” The toxicology and investigative reports documenting the fatalities were shared with agents and intelligence resources as part of ongoing efforts by DEA’s Heroin Enforcement Action (HEAT), an enforcement...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M - Seven defendants are facing federal methamphetamine trafficking charges in four cases involving seizures last week of more than 52 pounds of methamphetamine. Three of the cases are the result of interdiction investigations at the Greyhound Bus Station and Amtrak Train Station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The fourth...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M - Shannon Lamont Jackson, 38, of Clovis, New Mexico, was sentenced yesterday to 77 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his heroin trafficking conviction. Jackson, a career offender whose criminal history includes felony convictions for drug trafficking and violent crimes, was prosecuted...

ALBUQUERQUE - Juan Velazquez, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to distributing cocaine and participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Doña Ana County, N.M. Velazquez was arrested in Sept. 2016, on an indictment alleging cocaine trafficking charges. The 18-count...

ALBUQUERQUE - Amber Kay Otero, 31, of Carlsbad, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to the misdemeanor offense of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance. Otero was arrested on Sept. 23, 2016, following an investigation initiated after the DEA received a report of theft or loss...