FRESNO, CA - Five defendants were charged today in two separate indictments for their involvement in marijuana cultivation operations in Kern County, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. “These indictments represent the product of an ongoing multi-agency enforcement effort spanning six counties in the Central Valley and intended to stem...

FRESNO, CA - A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment today charging John Simpson, 56, of Squaw Valley, with cultivating marijuana, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. According to court records, Simpson received notice in April that...

SAN DIEGO, CA - On June 30 and July 1, 2012, DEA/(Narcotics Task Force) conducted a marijuana eradication operation in the unincorporated area of Warner Springs called Sunshine Summit. A State of California search warrant was obtained for the 40 acre parcel of private property which concealed the marijuana plants...

OAKLAND, CA - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and Internal Revenue Service - Criminal (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Scott O’Briant presented more than $1.2 Million to the Hayward Police Department, Southern Alameda County Narcotics Enforcement (SACNET), Livermore Police Department, Vallejo Police Department and the...

FRESNO, CA - Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today charging Desidoro Sanchez Solorzano, 34, of Madera; Jose Antonio Sanchez Reyes, 24, of Clovis; Eliodoro Cerato Martinez, 28, of...

FRESNO, CA - United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams announced that a federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment today charging Sergio Hector Aguilar, 45, and Oscar Arellano Iniego, 54, both of Bakersfield, of conspiring to distribute...

FRESNO, CA - Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Saul Pacheco Panuco, 31, formerly of Livingston, was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, to distribute, and to possess with...

FRESNO, CA - Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Alejandro Castellanos, 21, of Oaxaca, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to possessing firearms furthering a marijuana cultivation conspiracy. In pleading guilty to the gun charge, Castellanos acknowledged that he...

Seventeen San Antonio-based members of the Texas (TS) have been charged by federal grand jury indictment with conspiring to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt (RICO) statute. The announcement was made today by United States Attorney Robert Pitman, DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena, U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte, ATF Special...

SAN DIEGO, CA - This afternoon, the DEA San Diego Field Division’s Narcotics Task (NTF) along with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Health Advocates Rejecting (HARM) announced the total amount of illegal marijuana plants seized in San Diego County in 2011. During calendar year 2011, NTF and our...