United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX - DEA announced today, the sentencing of Carlos Ramon Castro-Rocha, 42, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, to 11 years in prison. Castro-Rocha, a former Consolidated Priority Organization (CPOT), a term designated as a reference to the highest-level drug traffickers, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess heroin with intent...

NEWARK, N.J. - - Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division and Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey announced a Colombian cartel leader expelled from Venezuela to face federal charges in New Jersey for his role in...

LAREDO, Texas - Twelve individuals in multiple cities were arrested on charges alleging their participation in a marijuana conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in-Charge Joseph M. Arabit. U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson and Homeland Security (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden also made the announcement with DEA. The...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Simon Velazquez-Gonzalez, 27, formerly of Hilliard, Ohio was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 170 months in prison for his role in trafficking more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine. During this investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Agents seized more than 20 pounds of “ice,” a highly potent...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - -Tomas Gutierrez Ayala of California was sentenced today to 75 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to sell large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine to Alaska-based drug dealers. Upon being released from prison, Ayala will be on supervised release for five years. Ayala previously...

SAN DIEGO - On January 7, 2016, Hugo Adalberto Adrian Ramirez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl in connection with a family drug trafficking ring that he directed. According to admissions in court and in his plea agreement, Ramirez conspired with family members, including his...

BUFFALO, N.Y. - DEA New York Special Agent in-Charge James J. Hunt and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Rashawn Crule, 40, of Buffalo, NY, with multiple drug trafficking and weapons offenses. Charges include possession with intent to distribute...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) for New England, and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JASON CHICKOS, 46, of Bridgeport, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to two...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction of KEVIN LOWE, the owner of “Astramed,” a purported medical clinic with multiple locations in the Bronx, New York, and from which more than five million tablets of the prescription painkiller...

WASHINGTON - The capture of Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman-Loera is a victory for the rule of law and the Mexican people and government. The arrest is a significant achievement in our shared fight against transnational organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking. It is further evidence of our two countries’ resolve to...