PHOENIX - On Feb. 4, 2013, Robert Francis Dayaye, Jr. (a.k.a. “Fat Rob”), 33, of Whiteriver, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judges Neil V. Wake and G. Murray Snow to a combined term of imprisonment of 15 years. Dayaye pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, 2102, to possession with intent...

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...

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...

PHOENIX - U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk announced today that Judge Michael Bluff of the Yavapai County Superior Court has granted a Permanent Injunction to ban all known retailers from selling synthetic drugs in Yavapai County. Judge Bluff signed...

PHOENIX - On December 19, 2012, Doug Coleman, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) Phoenix Field Division and U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo announced that Francisco Alfredo Montes-Vargas, of Culiacan, Mexico, was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised...

PHOENIX - On April 25, 2012, a federal grand jury in Phoenix returned a 76 count superseding indictment against 11 defendants charging them with multiple crimes including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, structuring financial transactions through a domestic financial institution and promotional money laundering. The defendants are...

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...

PHOENIX - Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) along with various state and local law enforcement agencies executed 12 search warrants yesterday and seized more than 20,000 units of synthetic drugs in the second statewide enforcement action against the synthetic designer drug industry responsible for the production and sale...

OCT (PHOENIX)- - The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as DEA special agents or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme. This criminal activity has occurred in the past, but is now occurring with much more frequency. The DEA Phoenix and...

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...