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Drug Enforcement Administration

Philly Cocaine Dealer Who Tried To Kill Witness Gets Sentenced: USDOJ Philly Cocaine Dealer Who Tried To Kill Witness Gets Sentenced: USDOJ
Philly Cocaine Dealer Who Tried To Kill Witness Gets Sentenced: Usdoj A convicted Philadelphia drug dealer who tried to have a witness assassinated while awaiting trial last year will spend the better part of a century in federal prison, prosecutors say.  Luis Algarin-Torres, 34, was sentenced to 622 months, or just shy of 52 years, plus six years of supervised release, according to the US Attorney's Office.  During a raid on his Hunting Park home in 2018, authorities said they found $28,000 in cash, 34 grams of cocaine, and a loaded gun that had been modified to fire automatically stashed in a kitchen light fixture.  They also found evid…
175K+ Fentanyl Doses Seized In Massive Reading Drug Bust: Berks DA 175K+ Fentanyl Doses Seized In Massive Reading Drug Bust: Berks DA
175K+ Fentanyl Doses Seized In Massive Reading Drug Bust: Berks DA Hundreds of thousands of doses of illegal drugs are off the street and four men are in custody following a massive police raid and drug bust on Monday, the District Attorney's Office announced on March 12. Detectives and Reading police launched an investigation into "street level" drug dealing on the 200 block of South 6th Street in September 2023, according to the DA's office.  With assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, authorities executed search warrants at multiple properties — all in the same block  — on March 11, including:&…
State Police, Feds Investigating After Police Officer Shot In Scranton (UPDATED) State Police, Feds Investigating After Police Officer Shot In Scranton (UPDATED)
State Police, Feds Investigating After Police Officer Shot In Scranton (Updated) More details are emerging in the Thursday, Jan. 11 shooting of a Scranton police officer.  The officer and an unnamed "subject" were both shot during an "exchange of gunfire," authorities said previously.  In a Thursday afternoon press conference, a state police spokesman said SPD officers were investigating a pair of shootings — one on the 400 block of Harrison Avenue and one on the 300 block of Prospect Avenue — when the gunfight broke out.  Both the officer and the other person remain at Geisinger CMC in "critical but stable" condition, according to police. …
3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea 3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea
3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea UPDATE: A third member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware has pleaded guilty, authorities confirmed. Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity." One of Jackson's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI complaint says. Notes found in the defendants’ cars …
Thermal Imaging Video That Led To Danelo Cavalcante's Capture Released By DEA Thermal Imaging Video That Led To Danelo Cavalcante's Capture Released By DEA
Thermal Imaging Video That Led To Danelo Cavalcante's Capture Released By DEA The crucial moments that helped lead authorities to Danelo Cavalcante's capture have been released by federal officials. The final push that led to the 34-year-old convicted killer's capture began just after midnight, Wednesday, Sept. 13, when he set off an alarm at a home near the eastern edge of the police perimeter in northern Chester County, authorities said (scroll for video). Around an hour later, a plane from the Drug Enforcement Administration ultimately picked up on Cavalcante's body heat using thermal imaging, near Prizer Road and Route 100 in South Coventry Township. The video …
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said. James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity." One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison
Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison UPDATE: A member of a second-story crew who targeted Asian and Asian-American homeowners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware for burglaries was sentenced to a plea-bargained four years and two months in federal prison, authorities said. Randi Barr, 42, of Union County, NJ, was part of a group that worked from a hit list of dozens of homes based on “stereotype and opportunity,” federal authorities said. Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities who teamed up to smash the ring found notes in the defendants’ cars that had the home addresses of individuals of Asian des…
'Operation Special Delivery': Berks Crew Smuggled $4M Of Cocaine Through The Mail, Police Say 'Operation Special Delivery': Berks Crew Smuggled $4M Of Cocaine Through The Mail, Police Say
'Operation Special Delivery': Berks Crew Smuggled $4M Of Cocaine Through The Mail, Police Say A dozen people face criminal charges in connection with an ongoing scheme to mail cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County, according to authorities.  During the course of "Operation Special Delivery," a task force of Berks detectives and federal agents seized roughly $4 million worth of cocaine from 19 packages sent through the US Postal Service, said county authorities in a release.  Eleven of the 12 suspects are currently in police custody, detectives said.  The investigation began last August when the Postal Inspector's Office found "kilogram quantities" of cocaine being regularly shi…
El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case
El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case Four sons of notorious druglord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are among more than two dozen members of Mexico's reigning Sinaloa cartel charged in a massive fentanyl-trafficking offensive announced by federal officials on Friday. The infamous quartet known as the Chapitos – each of whom had $5 million U.S. bounties placed on their heads – were dubbed “the pioneers” of fentanyl’s introduction to American users by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram during an April 14 news conference in Washington, D.C. “Death and destruction are central to their whole operation,” said Milgram, a former New Jersey a…
Meth, Fentanyl Seized In Early Morning Easton Raid: Police Meth, Fentanyl Seized In Early Morning Easton Raid: Police
Meth, Fentanyl Seized In Early Morning Easton Raid: Police A team of state, local, and federal law enforcement agents descended on an Easton home early Friday, seizing drugs and firearms, according to authorities.  City police, joined by Palmer Township police, state troopers, the Northampton County Drug Task Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at a property on the 100 block of North 8th Street at about 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, officials said in a release.  First entry was made by a state police tactical team, authorities said. Once the area was secured, officers began the search.  In all, poli…
Arizona Man Caught With $1.6M Of Fentanyl In Montco: DA Arizona Man Caught With $1.6M Of Fentanyl In Montco: DA
Arizona Man Caught With $1.6M Of Fentanyl In Montco: DA More than $1.6 million worth of fentanyl on its way to be distributed across greater Philadelphia was intercepted by police at a Montgomery County motel on Wednesday, according to authorities.  Jorge Valdez-Rosas, a 22-year-old from San Luis, Arizona, was caught red-handed with a duffle bag containing five kilograms — or 5,000 grams — of the synthetic opioid, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.  Police began investigating Valdez-Rosas after learning that a drug trafficking organization with ties in the US and Mexico was in the middle of moving large…
PHOTOS: Suspect Shot During DEA Operation In NJ PHOTOS: Suspect Shot During DEA Operation In NJ
Photos: Suspect Shot During DEA Operation In NJ One suspect was hospitalized and three others were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon after a shooting in Fort Lee, witnesses said. Members of a DEA task force out of Newark were conducting an operation when gunfire erupted on Whiteman Street off Lemoine Avenue near the Whiteman Park Plaza around 1:30 p.m., knowledgeable law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. At least 20 rounds had been fired, some of which struck a Toyota sedan that slammed head-on into a utility pole. Two DEA agents were believed to have discharged their weapons. The wounded suspect is tended to on Whiteman Str…
23,000 Fentanyl Doses, 30 Homemade Guns Seized In NJ Latin Kings Takedown: Feds 23,000 Fentanyl Doses, 30 Homemade Guns Seized In NJ Latin Kings Takedown: Feds
23,000 Fentanyl Doses, 30 Homemade Guns Seized In NJ Latin Kings Takedown: Feds More than 23,000 doses of fentanyl, nearly 30 homemade firearms and a host of parts designed to create fully-automatic machine guns were seized in the takedown of a drug and gun trafficking network run by New Jersey members of the Latin Kings, federal authorities announced. Nine reputed members of the ring were charged with a variety of drug and weapon offenses that include creating and selling private-made firearms (PMFs), more commonly known as “ghost guns," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. PMFs were actually being made on 3D printers at the moment law enforcers raided one of sever…
Montco Pharma Giant Could Pay Billions For Role In Opioid Crisis: Feds Montco Pharma Giant Could Pay Billions For Role In Opioid Crisis: Feds
Montco Pharma Giant Could Pay Billions For Role In Opioid Crisis: Feds A Conshohocken-based pharmaceutical giant could be on the hook for billions of dollars in fines for its role in the nationwide opioid epidemic, prosecutors say.  US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero filed suit against AmerisourceBergen Corp., one of America's largest pharmaceutical wholesalers, for allegedly violating federal law regarding opioid distribution.  According to prosecutors, prescription drug sellers have a "longstanding legal obligation" to inform the federal Drug Enforcement Administration "each and every time they receive a suspicious order." Not only did AmerisourceBe…
DEA, Police Investigate Murder Victim Dumped On Delco Street DEA, Police Investigate Murder Victim Dumped On Delco Street
DEA, Police Investigate Murder Victim Dumped On Delco Street Investigators believe the man found dead with multiple stab wounds on a Delaware County side street earlier this month was murdered elsewhere and then dumped there.  Police in Norwood were called to Darby Crescent Road just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, the department said in a release. There, officers found the body of a man killed "under suspicious circumstances," they said.  Authorities later identified the body as 24-year-old Jimmy Reynolds Jr., of Philadelphia, Norwood police said. Officials in the city had reported Reynolds missing from North Philly just thre…
PLEA DEAL: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ PLEA DEAL: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ
Plea Deal: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ UPDATE: A plea deal is sending a Philadelphia drug dealer who slung meth in New Jersey to federal prison for 10 years without parole, authorities said. Nasir White, 30, took the deal, pleading guilty to drug conspiracy, rather than risk the consequences of being convicted at a trial. He must serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. A fellow dealer, Shawn McGuriman, took the same deal and was sentenced in August 2021 to a decade behind bars, as well, authorities said. White and McGuriman had a half-pound of meth that they'd agreed to sell to anot…
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals A collection of crime-fighting 'supergroups' nailed 42 defendants in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare in North Jersey, authorities announced. The Violent Crime Initiative, as it's called, targeted what had been thriving criminal organizations in Newark, Paterson and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Shooting incidents statewide and in cities where the VCIs operate are “appreciably lower” than the year-to-date total from last year, including a 23% reduction statewide, a 30% reduction in …
Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ
Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ A Puerto Rican resident who coordinated a private shipment of more than 300 pounds of cocaine into Teterboro Airport is headed to federal prison for a mandatory 10 years. Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez – also known as “Humilde” – took a deal from the government rather than risk a trial. He’ll have to serve out the entire plea-bargained term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. The scheme involved smuggling more than a quarter-ton of cocaine into the United States on private planes flying into the small local airport in Bergen County from 2017 through July 2019, U.S. Attorne…
'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns
'Rainbow Fentanyl' Made To Look Like Candy Being Sold To Children, DEA Warns Brightly-colored fentanyl made to look like candy is being sold to children and young people, the Drug Enforcement Administration warns.  The DEA and our law enforcement partners seized some of the brightly-colored fentanyl in 18 states in the month of August 2022.  “Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.   “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fe…
Thousands In Cocaine Thrown Off 8th Floor Of Apartment In NJ Bust Involving PA Shooting Suspect Thousands In Cocaine Thrown Off 8th Floor Of Apartment In NJ Bust Involving PA Shooting Suspect
Thousands In Cocaine Thrown Off 8th Floor Of Apartment In NJ Bust Involving PA Shooting Suspect Thousands of dollars' worth of cocaine and guns were thrown from the eighth floor of a New Jersey apartment before it was recovered from the streets below during a drug investigation, leading to a slew of charges for two of the residents involved, including a PA shooting suspect using an alias, authorities said. A month-long investigation into the distribution of cocaine led detectives to the 600 block of West State Street in Trenton, where surveillance officers saw Jose Borges-Navarro open an eighth-floor window and throw two duffle bags out around 7:15 p.m. on Monday, June 13, Mercer Coun…
Philadelphia Career Criminal Who Shot SWAT Officer Facing Federal Charges: Authorities Philadelphia Career Criminal Who Shot SWAT Officer Facing Federal Charges: Authorities
Philadelphia Career Criminal Who Shot SWAT Officer Facing Federal Charges: Authorities A Philadelphia career criminal who shot a SWAT officer serving a search warrant in February was charged by federal authorities Wednesday, May 4. Police arrived at 35-year-old Kristian Reyes' West Lehigh Avenue home in the Fairhill section of the city on Feb. 11 with the intention of arresting him on probation and parole violations, United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said.  He had drug-related convictions dating back to 2007, CoffeeorDie reports. After receiving no response, SWAT officers broke into the home and made their way up to the third-floor a…
Jersey Shore Man Found With Rifle, Silencer, Bogus Federal Agent Badges Takes Plea Jersey Shore Man Found With Rifle, Silencer, Bogus Federal Agent Badges Takes Plea
Jersey Shore Man Found With Rifle, Silencer, Bogus Federal Agent Badges Takes Plea A Jersey Shore man who was caught with a handful of phony federal agent IDs in his own name admitted also having a homemade rifle and a silencer. Jeffrey Backlund, 57, of Waretown, took a deal from the government rather than face trial, pleading guilty on Wednesday, April 27, to illegally possessing all of them, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Backlund was arrested after a warranted search prompted by a domestic disturbance in September 2020 turned up “a number of firearms and imitation federal identification badges,” Sellinger said. “They found one short-barreled, AR-style, .223 …
Feds: Smuggler Who Imported Ton Of Cocaine Into US Gets 15 Years Without Parole Feds: Smuggler Who Imported Ton Of Cocaine Into US Gets 15 Years Without Parole
Feds: Smuggler Who Imported Ton Of Cocaine Into US Gets 15 Years Without Parole A man who authorities said imported almost a ton of cocaine into the United States from Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic was sentenced in federal court in Newark to a plea-bargained federal prison term of nearly 15 years, authorities said. Edwin “Tortuga” Nieves-Rosado, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who was living in the Dominican Republic, must serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Nieves-Rosado "played a managerial role" in conspiring to smuggle the cocaine from with at least five other people from 2016 through January, 20…
Feds Charge NJ Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More Feds Charge NJ Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More
Feds Charge NJ Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More A Clifton orthopedic surgeon was charged by federal authorities with prescribing high doses of addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused, sold or otherwise didn't need them. Evangelos Megariotis, 68, prescribed Oxycodone, Xanax, cough syrup with codeine and stimulants “outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Megariotis, who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates, already has been banned by the state from ever again practicing medicine or prescribing drugs in New Jersey. State au…
Four NJ Smoke Shops Raided, Five Busted For Selling Pot, THC Edibles Four NJ Smoke Shops Raided, Five Busted For Selling Pot, THC Edibles
Four NJ Smoke Shops Raided, Five Busted For Selling Pot, THC Edibles A group of owners and operators sold pot and THC products out of smoke shops in Englewood, Butler, Randolph, and Scotch Plains, charged authorities who busted them during a series of raids. Detectives assisted by the DEA seized seizure of hundreds of pounds of marijuana, THC edibles and THC wax/oil, along with $305,000 in illicit proceeds, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. They arrested co-owners Michael Ligus, 24, and Damian Harry Wesler Sr., 44, along with Damian H. Wesler Jr., 22, all of Ringwood, and were arrested, along with Anthony Garcia, 45, of Secaucus and Ezekiel Pau…
TRAGIC TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds TRAGIC TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds
Tragic TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland were among the 10 states with the most fentanyl deaths last year, a recent study found. All four were also among the states with the most deaths caused by the synthetic opioid since 2015, the non-profit Families Against Fentanyl found. The results led a former chief medical officer of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to urge Washington to "attack fentanyl overdoses with the same vigor and approaches as we do the coronavirus." Bipartisan leaders including former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former CIA Directo…
Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA
Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA An ex-con was charged federally after he showed up at a Jersey Shore emergency room for treatment packing a handgun and then claimed he was DEA agent, authorities said. Staff members at Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank spotted Wesley Rucker, 34, of Tinton Falls carrying the gun in his waistband, federal authorities said. “Rucker showed the security officer two identification cards in a leather bifold wallet with the Drug Enforcement Administration (”DEA”) logo embossed on the outside,” a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives complaint on …
Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ
Puerto Rican Man Admits Plot To Smuggle 330 Pounds Of Coke Into NJ A Puerto Rican resident admitted coordinating a private shipment of more than 300 pounds of cocaine into Teterboro Airport, federal authorities said. Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, 29, took a deal from the government rather than risk a trial, pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court in Newark to conspiring to distribute five or more kilos of coke, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The conspiracy unraveled after four men not on the manifest boarded a private Teterboro-bound plane in Puerto Rico with "particularly heavy" luggage, raising the pilots' suspicions, Honig said. Investiga…
Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen
Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen A drug dealer who substituted fentanyl for heroin, killing a Jersey Shore woman, must spend more than 15 years in federal prison. Quasaan Bethea, 35, of Trenton, will have to serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 188-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The 39-year-old Englishtown victim bought the fatal dose – in a package stabbed “CAMEL” – from Bethea and Tarashanna Blake in May 2018, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Englishtown police who responded to a report of an overdose death soon after found several folds of “CAMEL” and some em…
Feds: Hardcore Jersey Shore Ex-Con Gets Mandatory 8 Years For Dealing Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Feds: Hardcore Jersey Shore Ex-Con Gets Mandatory 8 Years For Dealing Fentanyl-Laced Heroin
Feds: Hardcore Jersey Shore Ex-Con Gets Mandatory 8 Years For Dealing Fentanyl-Laced Heroin A Jersey Shore ex-con who admitted boosting heroin he sold on the street with deadly fentanyl was sentenced Friday to no less than eight years in federal prison. Derrick Norwood, 59, of Neptune has already spent much of the past 25 years behind bars for a host of convictions out of Monmouth County for aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, as well as major drug and weapons offenses, among other crimes, records show. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced him via a videoconference from Trenton to 100 months in a federal penitentiary for slinging fentanyl, the synthetic …
National Leader Of Pagans Busted On Federal Gun Charge In NJ National Leader Of Pagans Busted On Federal Gun Charge In NJ
National Leader Of Pagans Busted On Federal Gun Charge In NJ The national president of the outlaw Pagans motorcycle gang was in federal custody after he was caught with a gun in New Jersey while returning to his Long Island home from a party in Pennsylvania, authorities announced Friday. Keith Richter – a 62-year-old ex-con known as “Conan the Barbarian” – was returning to his Bay Shore home from a Pagans party in Lancaster, PA when he was stopped late last Saturday in Mercer County, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. Police found him carrying a loaded .45-caliber Ruger P345 handgun, Honig said. Identified by the FBI as one o…