ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gregory M. Millard, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's El Paso Division, and Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Cruz Lopez-Acevedo was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Acevedo, 52, of Zacatecas, Mexico, pleaded guilty on March...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that Luis Carlos Vásquez-Barragán, 51, of Nicolás Bravo, Chihuahua, Mexico, was sentenced to prison for possession with intent to distribute at least 50 kilograms but less than 100 kilograms of marijuana. Vásquez-Barragán was arrested...

PECOS – A federal jury convicted a Mexican national last week of importing and possessing marijuana. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents encountered Jose Manuel Ayala-Alas, 26, and six other co-defendants hiding in the brush in the High Lonesome Mountains on June...

ALPINE – A Mexican national was sentenced last week to 108 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute marijuana. According to court documents, on January 28, 2022, a U.S. Border Patrol agent conducted a traffic stop on a black BMW SUV driven by Efren Derma-Dominguez, 26. After a...

PECOS – Today a federal jury in Pecos convicted a Mexican national for his role in distributing marijuana. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Tomas Herrera-Quinones, 33, and six other co-defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and one...

EL PASO – A federal jury convicted two Sinaloa Cartel members on Friday for their roles in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, Mexico and Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,”...

EL PASO - Today in El Paso, federal authorities filed two criminal complaints charging five individuals for smuggling an estimated $5.4 million worth of marijuana and methamphetamine and 77 illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Erik P. Breitzke, Drug Enforcement...

DENVER, Colo. – Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter in conjunction with the Office of the District Attorney, 4th Judicial District of Colorado and lead prosecutor Rachel Powell announced January 21st that Kristopher Fowlkes owner of The Dankery and Colorado Springs resident, was sentenced to serve 10 years in Colorado...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies last week teamed together in the Shiprock, New Mexico, area to conduct a marijuana eradication operation that yielded tremendous results. From Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, the FBI led hundreds of officers in a large-scale, multi-agency law enforcement operation...

DENVER – Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea today announced that the DEA will direct resources to help reduce violent crime in communities throughout the country. Under this initiative, called Project Safeguard, DEA will identify and prioritize ongoing drug trafficking investigations with a nexus to violent crime. “Drug...