United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Attorney’s Office has charged Yessenia Margarita Barrientos-Lainez—a former employee of a money services business in the Tenderloin district—with conspiring to launder drug proceeds by wiring large sums of money abroad for a known drug trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area, announced United States...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A New Jersey man admitted guilt in a U.S. District courtroom in southern Illinois Tuesday to acting as a middleman between an India-based pharmaceutical distribution company and customers in the United States. Moises A. Sanabria, 32, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count...

ST. LOUIS – More than two dozen people were arrested this week in connection with charges including drug trafficking and financial crimes, U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming said Thursday. The arrests by the U.S. Marshals, federal agents and local police follow a series of grand jury indictments. Thirty-four people have...

BOSTON – A leader of a Lowell-based gang, One Family Clique (OFC), has pleaded guilty to conspiring with fellow OFC gang members to traffic wholesale quantities of cocaine, and to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds through casinos in Canada. Virak Prum, a/k/a “Polo,” a/k/a “Capo,” a/k/a “Lips,” 36...

NEWARK, NJ. – Five men who work in New York City’s Diamond District were arrested today and charged with illegally processing more than $600 million through unlicensed money transmitting businesses, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A U.S. District judge sentenced a California man to 21 year and 10 months in prison after he admitted to leading a drug conspiracy ring targeting communities in southern Illinois. Thomas Hines, 33, of Los Angeles, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute...

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Kansas City returned an indictment charging multiple people for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine within the state of Kansas and elsewhere between February 2020 and July 2023. According to court documents, Jose Roman, 43, Marcos Valencia Jr...

BENTON, Ill. – A U.S. District judge sentenced the final defendant of five total co-conspirators for his involvement in a large-scale methamphetamine operation in southern Illinois. Robert Smith, 42, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. Smith pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to...

LAREDO, Texas – Four Laredo residents have entered guilty pleas for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and launder money, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Cesar Mendiola, 57, Jose Angel Rodriguez, Jr., 60...

BOSTON – Two men were convicted today by a federal jury in Boston for operating a large-scale international fentanyl trafficking and money laundering conspiracy. Fermin Castillo, 43, of Boston, and Andre Heraux Martinez, 24, of the Dominican Republic, were convicted following a seven-day jury trial of conspiracy to distribute over...