United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A three-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a Lebanese and Belgian citizen, and Talal Chahine, a Lebanese citizen, with conspiracy to conduct and cause United States persons to conduct unlawful transactions with...

NEW YORK CITY – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and Keechant Sewell, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today that a grand jury in...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri who participated in a 2017 murder on behalf of a drug gang to 18 years in prison. Tremayne Silas, 30, was one of four men who fired more than 100 rounds at...

Seattle – The leader of a violent, prolific drug trafficking ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Twenty-four defendants have been charged with marijuana distribution, money laundering, firearms, and related offenses in an indictment returned last month. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A St. Louis man was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison after admitting to his involvement in a methamphetamine operation in southern Illinois. Terrence Thompson, 35, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. According to court records, Thompson...

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin today sentenced D’Andre Preston, age 26, of Baltimore, to 25 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing a murder. The term NFL stands...

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Brayan Contreras-Avalos, a/k/a “Anonimo,” “Humilde,” and “Malia,” age 28, of Langley Park, Maryland, late yesterday to the statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison on charges related to his participation in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or...

WASHINGTON – An indictment was unsealed today charging eight individuals in a drug conspiracy. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and officers with the Metropolitan Police and Prince George’s County Police Departments arrested seven of the defendants yesterday. Melvin Grayson, 49, of District...

NEWARK, N.J. – Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Daniel J. Kafafian, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Newark Field Division Bryan R. Miller, and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R...