ATLANTA – A federal jury convicted Roderick Battle, the leader of a nationwide drug trafficking organization, of multiple drug trafficking, money laundering, and firearms-related charges. “Cases of this magnitude are not solved by one agency alone,” said Michael J. Connolly, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field...

NEW YORK — The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of charges against, and the arrests of, five Ecuadorian nationals who conspired to import vast quantities of cocaine into the United States for more than a decade. The defendants include a former member of Ecuador’s National Assembly, a former Ecuadorian...

ALBANY, NEW YORK – On November 4, 2026, Emery Moore, age 57, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Sebastian Higuera-Fuentes, 23, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on Oct. 27, by United States District Judge Raner C. Collins to 60 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. Higuera-Fuentes previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. As part of the conspiracy, Higuera-Fuentes...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Twelve members of a Midlands drug trafficking conspiracy have now been sentenced to federal prison, totaling just over 154 years in federal prison. Overall, more than 60 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 kilograms of cocaine, 200 grams of fentanyl, and quantities of MDMA, crack cocaine, and marijuana were...

Tallahassee, Fla. – Frederick Allen Smith, Jr., 54, of Madison, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and...

ALBUQUERQUE - Angel Ramirez, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, faces federal drug trafficking and firearm offenses following her arrest during a DEA-led Homeland Security Task Force investigation. "During this operation, DEA agents working alongside our Homeland Security Task Force partners seized more than 40 kilograms of fentanyl powder, representing over 3...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- April Nikkel, 37, from Sioux City, Iowa, was sentenced October 29, to 168 months’ imprisonment. Nikkel pled guilty on May 18, 2026, in federal court in Sioux City to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of distributing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of...

HAMMOND, Ind. - On Oct. 29, 2026, Jabari Casey, 45, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and a quantity of crack cocaine, and to possessing a firearm in...

CONCORD, N.H. – Dominican national Danaury Espinal-Lara, 46, has been sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe to 151 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, announces United States Attorney Erin Creegan. According to court documents and statements made in court, the defendant...