United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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...

EL PASO, Texas – Twenty-one individuals suspected of being affiliated with the Chuco Tango street gang were arrested Thursday in and around El Paso on criminal charges related to their alleged involvement in trafficking of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, and/or the unlawful possession of firearms. The following defendants were indicted...

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...

EL PASO, Texas – A Mexican national was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 70 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. According to court documents, Cesar Tarango Cobos, 42...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Gabriel Monico Guevara was sentenced to 3 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and $1,000 in...

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...

ALPINE, Texas – An El Paso man was sentenced Monday in a federal courthouse in Alpine to 96 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute marijuana. According to court documents, Hector Bernal Jr., 36, was a passenger in a vehicle that entered the primary inspection lane at the...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gregory M. Millard, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's El Paso Division, and Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Cruz Lopez-Acevedo was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Acevedo, 52, of Zacatecas, Mexico, pleaded guilty on March...