DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
80 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

15 Defendants Indicted for Meth and Fentanyl Trafficking

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Fifteen more defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy after law enforcement officers seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine and a kilogram of fentanyl pills hidden in a vehicle being transported from San Bernadino, Cal. to Springfield, Mo. Stevie...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Fentanyl Distribution and Money Laundering

OAKLAND, Calif. – Christian Grajeda-Varela, a Honduran national who pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge. Grajeda-Varela, 25, was charged by indictment on Aug. 2...
PRESS RELEASE

Fourteen Indicted in Multi-State Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Linked to Deadly Fentanyl Distributed to Members of the Lummi Nation in Washington

SEATTLE – Law enforcement fanned out across the country and in western Washington yesterday arresting 17 people on indictments and criminal complaints for a multi- state drug trafficking conspiracy. The two-year investigation alleges that the trafficking ring has been linked to a fatal fentanyl overdose on the Lummi Nation reservation...
PRESS RELEASE

Two Drug Traffickers Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms in Case Arising from Investigation of Aryan Family Prison Gang

TACOMA, Wash. – Two men indicted in March 2023 as part of a drug distribution organization associated with an Aryan prison gang were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma for drug and gun crimes. Ronaldo McComb, 59, of Ridgefield, Washington, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Isaac Cervantes...
PRESS RELEASE

Southeastern Connecticut Drug Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 16 Years in Federal Prison

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANTHONY WHYTE, also known as “Jak Mac,” 50, of New London, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 195 months of imprisonment, followed by five years...
PRESS RELEASE

Twenty-One Suspected El Paso Gang Affiliates Arrested for Alleged Drug Trafficking, Firearm Offenses

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Jamaican National Sentenced to 384 Months in Prison for Drug Trafficking, Identity Fraud, and Money Laundering Offenses

HARTFORD, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ONIEL WILKS, 45, a citizen of Jamaica, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 384 months of imprisonment for narcotics trafficking, passport fraud, identity fraud, and money laundering...
PRESS RELEASE

Northwest Missouri Fentanyl Distributor Sentenced

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Newtown, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in conspiracies to distribute fentanyl in northwest Missouri and to wire the proceeds of drug trafficking to Mexico. Lucas Ryan Coltrain, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to nine...
PRESS RELEASE

Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Wiring Drug-Trafficking Profits to Mexico

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The owner of an Olathe, Kansas, business pleaded guilty in federal court today to her role in a money-laundering conspiracy to transfer the proceeds of heroin and methamphetamine trafficking to Mexico. A Kansas City, Mo., woman also pleaded guilty to her role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Indictment Alleges Alliance Between Sinaloa Cartel and Money Launderers Linked to Chinese Underground Banking

Washington - The Justice Department today announced a 10-count superseding indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds. During the conspiracy, more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel...