NEW BERN, N.C. – A federal judge sentenced Kerby Pata, 40, of Miramar Florida, to over 12 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine and conspiracy to possess with the intent to sell more than 50 grams of meth. In August 2022, Homeland...

CAPE GIRARDEAU – An Alabama man has admitted involvement in the burglary of a Kennett, Missouri pharmacy last year and the theft of 16,800 pills, U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus announced Monday. Cornelius Cardez Bray, 31, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of intent to steal a controlled...

ST. LOUIS– Steven L. Hofer was appointed Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Field Division, marking a return to the Division in which he began his 22-year career with the agency. SAC Hofer will oversee operations across 10 DEA offices in Kansas...

ATLANTA – Orfael Macedo Bustos, a high-level drug trafficker who was extradited to the United States from Mexico late last year, has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in connection with the importation of large quantities of cocaine from Mexico to metro Atlanta. “International drug traffickers often believe they can...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A North Kansas City, Mo., man has been charged by criminal complaint for distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of firearms by a felon. Danny D. Garrett, Jr., 46, appeared...

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 167 months in prison for his role in a transnational drug trafficking organization with ties to a Mexican cartel. The sentence follows a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation which has so far led to convictions of approximately a dozen...

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Peters, Missouri was charged with drug and gun crimes Wednesday after a toddler overdosed on fentanyl. Kevin Lamar Knowles, 50, was charged by complaint in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, one count...

WAYCROSS, Georgia: Six defendants in a southern Georgia drug trafficking operation have been sentenced to prison in federal court. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood and announced by Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. They include: Chen Hui...

FLORENCE, S.C. – Federico Parra Lopez, 32, and Marcos Flores Aquino, 25, have been ordered to serve lengthy sentences in federal prison after being convicted of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and heroin in the Myrtle Beach area. These sentencings follow those of their co-defendants, Miguel Angulo Perez, 22, and Omar...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced today the results of Operation Spring Cleaning, a coordinated three-month multi-jurisdictional enforcement surge that resulted in 56 defendants charged federally, over 254 kilograms of drugs seized including more than 22 kilograms of fentanyl, 110 illegal firearms recovered, and 157 fugitives apprehended on...