NEW YORK — The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of charges against, and the arrests of, five Ecuadorian nationals who conspired to import vast quantities of cocaine into the United States for more than a decade. The defendants include a former member of Ecuador’s National Assembly, a former Ecuadorian...

Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, also known as “Churrón,” will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo on a superseding indictment charging him with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution, and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Bermúdez Cagua...

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ivan Cazarin Molina, 42, a Mexican national, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking offense. According to court documents, Cazarin...

NEW ORLEANS – Today, U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle, along with the federal, state and local participating agencies comprising the Homeland Security Task Force – New Orleans (“HSTF”), announced the successful conclusion of a nearly four-year, extensive multi-agency narcotics investigation that dismantled multiple drug trafficking organizations operating throughout the Bayou...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpweire, 45, made an initial appearance in federal court today on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machineguns and destructive devices, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a...

Washington, D.C. - A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ramon Alvarez Ayala, 44, and Rafael Alvarez Ayala, 42, both Mexican nationals, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm, including a machinegun, in...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A dual Lebanese-Syrian national was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for narco-terrorism conspiracy and 20 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, to be served concurrently. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Antoine Kassis...

Washington, D.C. - A Honduras-based Chinese national extradited from Guatemala pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, conspiring to launder money derived from drug trafficking, and to providing material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, specifically the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). According...

Washington, D.C - A Mexican national was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import approximately 1,900 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. According to court documents, Jesus Rauda-Avila, 46, was a member of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) led by...

A 24-year-old Venezuelan national is set to make his initial appearance in Houston federal court for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and significant drug trafficking offenses. Jose Enrique Martinez Flores also known as “Chuqui,” 24, is alleged to be a high-ranking leader of the designated foreign terrorist...