United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Gulfport, Mississippi – A former Biloxi City Councilman was sentenced to 72 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a Schedule I controlled substance. According to court documents and information presented to the court, in 2019, Robert Leon Deming, III, 47, founded the Candy Shop, LLC...

FORT SMITH — On August 6, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas ordered $180,886 in cash seized from three Nashville men to be forfeited to the United States, upholding a civil complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The complaint, filed on Jan. 31, 2024, alleged...

JACKSON, MS– Five individuals with ties to Mexico have pled guilty over the past month to felony offenses related to drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, and immigration offenses as a result of a law enforcement investigation involving sales of cocaine in Mississippi to purchase firearms and machine gun conversion devices for...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Amanda Rachelle Miller, 33, of Tucson, was apprehended in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico and deported to the United States on May 30, 2024, to face three felony indictments in the District of Arizona. Miller is a U.S. citizen and had been a fugitive for approximately three-and-a-half years at...

LITTLE ROCK—Two leaders of a large-scale methamphetamine organization have been sentenced to a combined 400 months in federal prison. Adan Mendoza, 36, of Dallas, Texas, and Brian I. Wilson, 37, of Little Rock, each received 200-month prison sentences — which equals 16 years, 8 months — from United States District...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Reynaldo Parra-Villagrana, 27, of Tucson, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez to 33 months in federal prison, followed by 60 months of supervised release, for his role in a cross-border narcotics distribution conspiracy. Parra-Villagrana pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Rodrigo Paez-Quintero, a Mexican national, has been extradited from Mexico to the United States to face charges related to drug trafficking. Paez-Quintero’s surrender to U.S authorities after an extradition proceeding in Mexico demonstrates the ongoing cooperation between the United States and Mexico to combat the influx of...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – MARK FRIDGE, III (“FRIDGE”), age 22, SHYHEIM PINES (“PINES”), age 29, and KAWAIISHH BROWN (“BROWN”), age 50, all of Tangipahoa Parish, were indicted on June 28, 2024 for violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, including distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, and violations...

PHOENIX, Ariz. - DEA and its local law enforcement partners collected 5,702 pounds of unused medications in Arizona during the 26th National Drug Take Back Day on April 27, 2024. This is an increase from last October of 5,414 pounds collected. Nationwide, 670,136 pounds of unused medications were turned in...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Angel Valencia-Avendano, 20, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, was sentenced last week by United States Chief District Judge G. Murray Snow to 84 months in prison. Valencia-Avendano pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl. On March 6, 2023, Valencia-Avendano was arrested and charged with fentanyl trafficking...