LOS ANGELES —Today, law enforcement investigators served nine arrest warrants in multiple locations throughout Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. In March of 2020, the DEA launched Operation Crystal Shield to focus efforts on main U.S. methamphetamine trafficking transportation hubs. DEA identified eight major methamphetamine transportation hubs where Operation Crystal Shield...

LOS ANGELES —The culmination of a three-month investigation resulted in a Santa Barbara methamphetamine distributor being sentenced on November 8, 2021 to 180 months in federal prison for narcotics violations. Cesar Castillo-Pena, 35, of San Bernardino, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner. On July 28...

LOS ANGELES – An Arizona man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for supplying counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl to the drug dealer accused of selling them to rapper Mac Miller, who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose, the Justice Department announced today. Ryan Michael Reavis...

EL PASO – The Drug Enforcement Administration, along with its law enforcement partners, has removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National Prescription Drug...

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,”...

EL PASO – To commemorate Red Ribbon Week, Fire Prevention Week, and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Drug Enforcement Administration El Paso Division, the El Paso Association of Firefighters Local 51, El Paso Electric, Texas Gas Service, YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region, and the El Paso Chamber partnered...

LOS ANGELES – 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...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Javier Jaquez, 50, of Albuquerque, was sentenced on Aug. 26 to 32 years in federal prison. On Sept. 18, 2020, Jaquez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being...

PECOS, Texas – A federal jury convicted a Dallas man last Thursday for possessing methamphetamine. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Oscar Santiago Garcia Sanchez, 32, drove a vehicle with a trailer filled with ceramic art pieces into the Presidio Port of Entry. During inspection, Customs and...

LOS ANGELES – A High Desert physician remains in federal custody today after his arrest Wednesday on charges of illegally dispensing prescriptions for often-abused controlled substances – including opioid-based medications – during telemedicine sessions with “patients” from across the United States. Dr. Raphael Tomas Malikian, 36, who resides in Llano...