PHOENIX, Ariz — DEA Special Agent in Charge Apolonio Ruiz Jr. joined Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and HIDTA Director Dawn Mertz to announce the results of a major multi-agency drug operation targeting criminal organizations operating in Arizona communities. “This extraordinary investigation saved countless lives,”...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Aaron Leopoldo Aguirre-Gutierrez, 50, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on Jan. 20, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins to 48 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Aguirre-Gutierrez previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine. Between Feb. 24, 2024, to...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last week, John Avendano, 21, of Phoenix, Arizona, was charged by federal criminal complaint in Phoenix, Arizona with Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. According to the complaint, on September 22, a Task Force Officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) East Valley Drug Enforcement Task...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jefferson Alejandro Lopez Alcaraz, 45, of Phoenix, was sentenced on February 13, 2025, by United States District Judge John T. Tuchi to 180 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, to run consecutive to the 60-month sentence Lopez Alcaraz is currently serving in CR-21-00451-TUC-JCH...

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Monday found a St. Louis man guilty of a cocaine trafficking charge and charges related to the death of nine people during a nearly six-year period. Evidence and testimony presented at trial showed that Anthony “TT” Jordan...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Miguel Angel Gaytan-Ramirez, 34, an undocumented Mexican National living in Phoenix, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to 151 months, followed by three years supervised release. Gaytan-Ramirez pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl on November 5...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Friday sentenced a man who was caught by police after a shipment of 15 pounds of methamphetamine and four and one-half pounds of cocaine was intercepted to 11 years and two months in prison. On March 24, 2022, Damon L...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Seven defendants who are either southwest Missouri residents or Mexican nationals have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Wilbert Pacheco-Salazar, 36, a citizen of Mexico residing in Springfield, Mo., Frank Lee Chapman, 35, and Omar Rosales-Olmos, 51...

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri, man who sold fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine base to a decade in prison. Byron Green, 29, pleaded guilty in March to eight felony counts: a fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine distribution charge, possession with...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The owner of an Olathe, Kansas, business pleaded guilty in federal court today to her role in a money-laundering conspiracy to transfer the proceeds of heroin and methamphetamine trafficking to Mexico. A Kansas City, Mo., woman also pleaded guilty to her role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy...