United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EL PASO – A federal jury convicted two Sinaloa Cartel members on Friday for their roles in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, Mexico and Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,”...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced two Passaic County men admitted their roles in an illegal money transmitting business. Erickson Checo-Almonte, 31 of Passaic...

ABINGDON, Va. – A Greenville, South Carolina man, who formerly resided in Bristol, Virginia, pleaded guilty last week to distributing methamphetamine, international money laundering, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiring to obstruct justice. According to court documents, Joshua Desorcy, 36, was directly responsible for...

WASHINGTON - In August, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced a comprehensive review of DEA’s foreign operations strategy to assess effectiveness, strengths, and areas for improvement. DEA announced today that former DEA Administrator Jack Lawn and Boyd Johnson, of WilmerHale, will lead the team conducting this independent review. Jack Lawn is...

MIAMI - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of State today announced a new reward for information that will lead to the location, arrest, and/or conviction of Colombian national Alvaro Pulido Vargas. A reward of up to $10 million dollars is being offered through the U.S...

MIAMI– A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment on Oct. 7, 2021, which was unsealed today, charging three Colombian nationals and two Venezuelan nationals for their alleged roles in laundering the proceeds of contracts to provide food and medicine to Venezuela that were obtained...

Miami, Florida – Alex Nain Saab Moran (Saab), 49, a Colombian citizen, will make his initial appearance in federal court in Miami, Florida, today after being extradited from the Republic of Cabo Verde. Saab is charged in an indictment with laundering the proceeds of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man, who was the 25th defendant associated with Operation High Tide, was sentenced today for his role in trafficking firearms and selling heroin. According to court documents, in 2017, Shon E. Melton, 32, of Portsmouth, was attributed with trafficking 19 firearms, including a concealable short...

NEW ORLEANS - Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide...

NEW ORLEANS - Today, at a press conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram announced a significant law enforcement surge to protect American communities from the flood of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced pills across the United States. Illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid found in most of...