LAREDO, Texas – A 34-year-old man has been ordered to prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl that resulted in the death of another person. Rene Antonio Melendez pleaded guilty June 29. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana ordered Melendez to serve 252 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Caribbean Division joins the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and its Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners in announcing nine federal prison sentences and three guilty pleas during the week of October 12–16, 2026. The longest sentence...

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...

Tallahassee, Fla. – Mario Swanston, 45, of Miami; Santana Wyvonne Harris, 41, of Panama City, Fla.; Shannon Jarbar Clayton, 46, of Panama City; Elizabeth Gray, 37, of Panama City; and Shontell Fedd, 49, of Panama City, each were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker in federal court after...

PLANO, TEXAS – A Serbian national has been sentenced to federal prison as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation into cocaine trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas. Milan Tanovic, 59, also known as Marco, a Serbian national living in Spain, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with...

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced in federal court to 200 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Division Miguel C. Madrigal and U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Authorities have arrested 19 people following a long-term investigation into an alleged drug trafficking organization operating in Alice. All 19 are charged with conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 280 grams of crack cocaine. Authorities arrested Joel Sanchez, 31; David...

Note: A copy of the 2021 indictment can be found here and a copy of the 2019 indictment can be found here. A Colombian national charged in two separate federal indictments involving the alleged laundering of more than $2 billion in connection with Venezuelan government bribery schemes will make his...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Oct. 7, 2026, Kumar Bishop, 47, of South Bend, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine . Bishop was sentenced to 121 months in...

LAS VEGAS — Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) Core 8 launched Operation Loaded Dice in July 2026. This was a strategic investigative initiative focused on disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations, gangs and other criminal networks involved in illicit firearms and narcotics trafficking, as well as bulk cash smuggling, and...