PHOENIX, Ariz. - A multi-agency enforcement effort led by the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration, Phoenix Police Department, Arizona Attorney General's Office, and Arizona HIDTA, dubbed Operation Double Down, has wrapped up and proven successful in combating the drug trafficking epidemic of fentanyl and other illegal substances which have resulted in...

MIDLAND, Texas – A Mexican national unlawfully residing in Texas was sentenced Thursday to life in federal prison for his criminal actions as the leader of a drug trafficking organization tied to a Mexican cartel. According to court documents, Jose Ramon Castillo-Lopez aka “Pepo,” 30, of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico, supplied...

ALBUQUERQUE – An Albuquerque man with a history of felony convictions was sentenced to 248 months in federal prison for drug trafficking and firearms offenses after being found guilty at trial of possessing nearly two pounds of methamphetamine and a loaded handgun. There is no parole in the federal system...

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury has indicted three individuals for their alleged roles in a large-scale marijuana cultivation and distribution operation on Navajo Nation lands. The indictment, unsealed today, charges Dineh Benally, 48, his father, Donald Benally, 74, and Irving Rea Yui Lin, 73, a California resident, with multiple...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An indictment was unsealed today charging Honduran national Abner Estrada Cruz, 25, with conspiracy to distribute at least 400 grams fentanyl and seven counts of distributing fentanyl, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. Estrada Cruz was...

SAN DIEGO – Alleged Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Octavio Leal-Hernandez, aka Chapito Leal, who is believed responsible for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the United States from Mexico, appeared in federal court today following his extradition from Mexico yesterday. Leal-Hernandez was indicted by a federal...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

ALBUQUERQUE – Two Albuquerque drug dealers pleaded guilty to federal charges after attempting to sell 30,000 fentanyl pills, containing approximately 3,200 grams of the drug, to an undercover law enforcement agent. According to court documents, on December 6, 2023, Miguel Antonio Ramirez, 23, and Isaiah Anthony Aragon, 24, conspired to...

SAN FRANCISCO – The government of Honduras extradited Gustavo Erazo, a Honduran national, to the United States this week to appear on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in the San Francisco Bay Area. The extradition marks the sixth extradition of...

BOISE – Efren Alexander Aviles-Pacheco, 29, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, illegally living in Ontario, Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Aviles-Pacheco to serve 10...