United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - A joint task force from Operation Bahamas, Turks and (OPBAT) seized 2,842 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated wholesale value of over $2.5 million during three separate law enforcement operations in the Bahamas this past weekend. The OPBAT task force was comprised of elements from the U.S...

MIAMI - A.D. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Paul C. May, Sheriff, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office, John J. Burke, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law (FDLE), Fort Myers Regional Operation...

MIAMI - Four Tampa residents plead guilty to their involvement in a conspiracy to import a synthetic cannabinoid, XLR-11, a/k/a “Spice,” and paraphernalia to the United (U.S.) from China, before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr., in Ft. Pierce, Florida. A.D. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement...

MIAMI - This week three Tampa residents pleaded guilty to their involvement in a conspiracy to import a synthetic cannabinoid, XLR-11, a/k/a “Spice,” and paraphernalia to the United States from China, before United States Chief Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr., in Ft. Pierce, Florida. A.D. Wright, Special Agent in...

MIAMI - A.D. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, made the announcement. Efrain Veiga, 64, of Miami, was sentenced yesterday to twenty-four months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised...

ORLANDO, Fla. - A.D. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, announced that U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell has sentenced Alvaro De La Torre-(42, Dayton, TX) to 10 years and five months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty on April...