RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The leader of a drug trafficking organization based in the Inland Empire was sentenced today to 168 months of imprisonment by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. Salvador Gonzalez-Chavez, 32, Fontana, was convicted last September of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, heroin...

WASHINGTON - Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, aka “Mamito” and “Caballero,” a high ranking member of the “Los Zetas” drug cartel, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States, announced Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and Assistant Attorney...

JAN 15 - LOS ANGELES - A “keyholder” who oversaw the criminal activities of the Azusa 13 street gang and its long-running plot to violate the civil rights of African-Americans in the City of Azusa was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison. Santiago Rios, also known as “Chico,” 48...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, announced that Richard Ammar Chichakli, an associate of convicted international arms dealer, Viktor Bout, was arrested yesterday in Australia for, among other things, allegedly conspiring with Bout and others to violate the International Emergency Economic...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Disposal of Controlled Substances in the Federal Register Dec. 21. The proposed regulations seek to implement the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010. According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...

DEC 11 - (WASHINGTON, D.C.) - - DEA and other federal officials announced today that HSBC Holdings (HSBC Group) - a United Kingdom corporation headquartered in London - and HSBC Bank USA N.A. (HSBC Bank USA) (together, HSBC) - a federally chartered banking corporation headquartered in McLean, Va. - have...

DEC 06 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced the results of “Project Below the Beltway”, a two-year series of investigations targeting the Sinaloa and Juarez Cartels and violent street gangs as part of on-going initiative against the cartels and their distribution network in America. The series...

DEC 6 - LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement authorities this morning arrested 18 defendants named in three federal grand jury indictments stemming from Operation Roman Empire, a 2½-year investigation into South Los Angeles street gangs allegedly controlled by a Mexican Mafia member who directs criminal activities through his daughter. A...

LOS ANGELES - A dozen people associated with a chain of nine marijuana stores that operated across Orange and Los Angeles counties were arrested this morning on federal drug trafficking charges. The 12 arrested are among 14 people named in a 14-count indictment returned last week by a federal grand...

WASHINGTON - Manssor Arbabsiar, aka Mansour Arbabsiar, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Southern District of New York to participating in a plot to murder the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States while the Ambassador was in the United States. Arbabsiar, a 58-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen holding...