Latest news with #DEARMFD
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
What we know: FBI arrests Fort Carson soldier on alleged distribution charges
(FORT CARSON, Colo.) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation Denver (FBI Denver) has arrested a Fort Carson staff sergeant on federal charges related to distributing cocaine. On Wednesday night, April 30, FBI Denver special agents arrested Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, who is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army and is currently stationed at Fort Carson. According to a Fort Carson official, Orona-Rodriguez has served almost nine years in the Army and is currently an active-duty soldier stationed with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. According to a Fort Carson official who shared Orona-Rodriguez's record, he has received multiple awards, including an Army Commendation Medal with Combat Device, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and various Army Achievement Medals. According to the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD), the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and officials at Fort Carson participated and assisted in the investigation and 'facilitated the arrest' on Wednesday evening. 'We are aware the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of Army CID, took a Fort Carson Soldier into custody,' a Fort Carson official said. 'We will continue to cooperate with all agencies involved.' Orona-Rodriguez was being held at the El Paso County Jail before he was released to the FBI on Thursday, per the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. On Sunday, April 27, an operation led by the DEA RMFD took place at an underground club in Colorado Springs where more than 100 people who entered the U.S. illegally were taken into custody, and more than a dozen active-duty service members were found either as patrons or working as armed security at the door. 'DEA is currently conducting a joint investigation with the FBI and the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID),' a spokesperson with the DEA RMFD said. 'As this is an ongoing joint investigation led by the FBI, we are unable to provide further information at this time.' FOX21 News has reached out to the FBI and is looking to learn more about the arrest. We will update this article when more information is released. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
The 'unintended victim': a picture worth a thousand words
(COLORADO) — It's not often that you get to look behind the scenes of federal operations and what happens when agents encounter children. In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Olesky of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD), FOX21's Sarah Ferguson unraveled the story behind a photo that will forever leave its mark on the heart and soul of the DEA. There is always a great story behind every picture, and this one is no exception. 'So last week, just like this week, our men and women are out there every single day pursuing this gang, that's TdA [Tren de Aragua],' Olesky said about the DEA RMFD operations that took place on Thursday, March 20, in Denver and Aurora. 'We ultimately ended up apprehending six individuals, one of them a confirmed TdA member, all of them Venezuelan nationals, and all of them were turned over to ICE ERO for potential deportation,' he said. Olesky said the operation also marked a significant arrest for the DEA and other federal agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and the U.S. Marshals Service, just to name a few. 'One of the individuals, the confirmed TdA member that was apprehended, was affiliated with the Dallas Street Apartments, which has received national attention due to TdA's takeover of that apartment complex,' he said. 'We have been looking for him for months, and so, he was taken off the streets last week.' In total, three operations took place on Thursday, according to Olesky. 'At one of the locations, one of the females we apprehended, sadly but also shockingly, the drug that has been associated with TdA, has been this 'tusi,' or pink cocaine, and the woman we had contacted at this location had actually just snorted tusi and had it in her nose visibly as we apprehended her,' he said. It was the follow-up interview, though, that would shock agents even more. 'During the interview of this woman, she was talking about her five-year-old son that she was concerned about,' said Olesky. 'Throughout the course of our day, we had one more operation to complete, and our agents had apprehended one individual, and as they were about to take him away, he said there was a five-year-old kid inside the apartment complex.' Agents quickly went inside looking for the child. 'Our agents went in there… they actually thought he was dead, to be frank; he was sleeping in the back bedroom of this apartment in a known TdA, confirmed TdA member's place,' he said. 'Meanwhile, our agents were outside getting harassed by agitators and protestors who had shown up in Aurora basically fighting for us to release this known TdA member; they have no idea what's going on inside this apartment complex.' What struck Olesky even more was a photo captured inside the apartment. The photo showed the child, or the unintended victim, being comforted by an agent, who sat by his side playing video games—a light to a very dark day. 'You have this guy with his tactical gear and his vest on, taking care of business in terms of enforcement, but also showing the heart that our agents have and caring for someone like this and being able distinguish when to turn it on and when to turn it off and I am just so proud of the team that was out there,' Olesky said. Over the next three to four hours, the child was cared for by agents, according to Olesky. 'We had personnel out on the streets as well to protect our agents and ultimately found a caretaker [for the child], facilitated by both ICE ERO but then also by the mother, who happened to be the mother from the first location earlier in the day.' Inside the apartment complex, according to Olesky, was also drug paraphernalia, posing an even greater threat to the most vulnerable. 'Here in the state of Colorado, we have had a number of infant deaths and kid deaths due to fentanyl and drug overdoses,' he said. 'These are the type of folks that are reckless in their conduct, and if you think that that TdA member cares for you as a Coloradan, or as an American, or as his neighbors in the community—look at how he was caring for this five-year-old kid.' Olesky said that when they encounter children, like the little boy on Thursday, it makes him angry. 'I've got kids; it makes me so mad because when the agents got in there, they thought he was dead and then I saw the photo of the mom who has tusi up her nose and then here we are getting harassed, so to see this young boy and to see that he's calm and that he's relaxed there with the agents, hopefully because of the work that our agents did that day he will have a better path ahead of him.' Knowing that this little boy was saved from this situation is what Olesky said he is grateful for and wants everyone to understand the threat that pink cocaine and other drugs pose, especially to children. Olesky further elaborated on what pink cocaine actually is and why it is so dangerous. 'It's such a combination of different drugs; it could be ketamine, MDMA, cocaine, as I said; there's no ingredient list on these things, it's actually a very expensive drug, a few thousand dollars per ounce,' he said. '[And so] when we see this particular drug, typically right now, the one mainly trafficking it is this Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.' Taking criminals off the streets and saving the most vulnerable is what Olesky said he and his agents continue to pursue day in and day out. 'It does reaffirm, it does motivate; to see, on one hand, this individual be held accountable for his conduct, while simultaneously showing compassion for the unintended victim, as we say, who was a victim of this criminal conduct.' Olesky hopes people understand the greater picture in terms of what they are trying to do to make our communities safer: 'We still have a lot more work to be done and that's what I am even more proud of because these guys pick up and go out there right the next day and get after it.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
DEA warns parents about fentanyl dangers amid spring break season
(COLORADO) — With the warmer weather and vacation season well underway, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD) is once again reminding parents to speak with their kids about the real threats of fentanyl. Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen of the DEA RMFD spoke with FOX21 News about the hard conversations parents need to have with their kids about the dangers of drug abuse. 'The scary thing now is that the biggest threat in our community is not someone shooting a needle of heroin in their arm, it's that they're taking a pill,' Pullen said, 'and we teach our kids to take pills, so parents have to have this really hard conversation with their kids about being aware.' Pullen said spring break brings an extra layer of concern. 'High school kids and college kids like to go on vacation for spring break; maybe they go to Mexico, maybe they go to Florida; kids take risks when they go and they are away from their parents,' he said. DEA's Rocky Mountain Field Division on drug overdose deaths in the state Pullen added that fentanyl does not take a vacation. 'It's still going to be deadly, it's still going to be out there, and parents need to have this conversation with their high schoolers and with their college kids to not ingest any substance that they don't know what it is,' he said. 'Never take a pill that you think is medicine if it didn't come from your doctor or pharmacist.' Pullen said parents need to understand that the threat is real and it's out there, and that these criminal groups are targeting young people. 'The cartels have intelligence networks just like government agencies do, right? So, they watch the news, they pay attention to the trends, and they move drugs around the countries, to places where they know it's going to sell,' he said. 'They are a multi-billion-dollar a year business; all they care about is greed; they don't care about if people live or die, they just care about the money they are going to make.' This weekend, an hour-long Nexstar special titled 'The Next Generation: Breaking Fentanyl's Grip' will air on FOX21 and SOCO CW. The special will focus on five families impacted by fentanyl; you can watch it on Sunday, March 30, at 5 p.m. on FOX21 and then at 9 p.m. on SOCO CW. The DEA also has several resources for families, including drug education information for parents, educators, and caregivers to help 'identify drug use, drug paraphernalia, warning signs of drug use, and the harmful side effects of the most commonly used drugs.' For more information, search Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Yahoo
Suspected Tren de Aragua gang members arrested in El Paso County
(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — Several suspected members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) Venezuelan gang have been arrested in El Paso County, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO). EPSO said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) notified Sheriff Joseph Roybal the first week of March that it had identified, located, and arrested several members of the prolific Venezuelan gang in his jurisdiction. 'My Office is already collaborating with our federal partners at the FBI, DEA, ATF, and ICE to ensure dangerous criminals, regardless of their citizenship status, are removed from the streets and held accountable,' said Sheriff Roybal following the arrests in El Paso County. WATCH BELOW: DEA RMFD on Tren de Aragua, cartel activity in the Denver Metro area In addition to this week's arrests in El Paso County by ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD), has also been cracking down on suspected members of both TdA and the Sinaloa Cartel across Colorado. The DEA RMFD said arrests like these have removed 130,000 fentanyl pills off the streets, in addition to guns and a fake DEA badge from an alleged drug trafficker, who the DEA believed was using the badge to steal drugs from other criminals. TdA, which began as a prison gang in Venezuela, has since spread across South America and into the continental U.S. According to the DEA RMFD, it has suspected TdA's involvement in serious crimes in Colorado, including drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, and human trafficking. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
'Invite-only by serious gang members': DEA RMFD on party bust, recent arrests
(COLORADO) — On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD) revealed its top 10 recent arrests made in the Denver Metro Area, including those with alleged ties to a Mexican cartel and Venezuelan gang. Building an 'Army of Good to Defeat the Evil': DEA RMFD on recent arrests As part two of FOX21's one-on-one interview with Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen, he further explained how agents are targeting and tracking down these suspected criminals including at makeshift nightclubs where guns, money, drugs, and prostitution all run rampant. Pullen said the recent arrests included both members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and from the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. 'We're seeing that the gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), they are affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel; we know that they are obtaining fentanyl from the Sinaloa Cartel, so we are seeing sort of these criminal groups that are coalescing and working together.' TdA, which began as a Venezuelan prison gang, has since spread all across South America and in other countries, according to Pullen, and is involved in several crimes. 'Here in the Denver area, they are involved in drug trafficking at large levels, weapons trafficking—you saw the videos from the apartment complex in Aurora—prostitution, [and] human trafficking.' When Pullen took over seven months ago as Special Agent in Charge of the DEA RMFD, he said at first, people didn't want to talk about TdA. '…I don't really know the reasons behind that, but saying the words 'TdA' in law enforcement or political circles in Colorado was like saying a four-letter word in church, and for whatever reason, people wanted to act like they were nonexistent here in Colorado, but then my agents kept telling me that there was something there.' That's when things took a turn. 'Shortly after I arrived, the guys seized 12 kilos of fentanyl from a TdA member coming across the mountains, and once that happened, that was sort of a bellwether moment for us and we knew that we really needed to focus more resources on investigating them and that's what we've done,' Pullen added. Mexican drug cartels are operating in Southern Colorado, DEA says As part of the recent operations by the DEA RMFD, agents teamed up with several other federal agencies including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to bust a makeshift nightclub in Adams County. Several were taken into custody including many allegedly connected to TdA. 'And let me just be clear, people coming to that party and all of the other TdA parties that we were surveilling over the last several months, were not immigrants who just came across the border trying to find a job in construction and send money home to their families, these folks were in designer clothes, they had drugs, they had cash, they had guns, they were driving Mercedes G Wagons, these were criminals,' Pullen added. These are not your ordinary nightclubs either: '…this is invite-only by serious gang members that are carrying guns… so they would spread the word on where the party was going to be and what time,' he said. 'They might hype it up by hiring a DJ from somewhere and then people start rolling in.' The saying, 'Nothing good happens after midnight,' rang true. '…the parties only start after 2 a.m. by the way, and I think we executed our search warrant on the party at about 5 a.m.,' Pullen said. 'At the nightclub we went to, prostitution was pretty rampant at those events and they would bring in prostitutes every weekend from someplace.' Fentanyl crisis in Colorado: DEA's warning for parents On Jan. 26, the DEA RMFD shared videos and photos from the early morning operation during which 49 people were taken into custody. 'DEA agents from the Rocky Mtn Field Division – and our LEO partners – disrupted the Tren de Aragua (TdA) party in Colorado so quickly and smoothly, some cerveza was still on ice when the dust settled,' wrote the DEA RMFD on X (formerly known as Twitter). When we asked Pullen what he thinks will happen next in terms of tracking down more of these suspected criminals, here's what he said: 'I think it's a mix; I think we are going to see some people stay because maybe they have no other way to go home, especially for the Venezuelans, they can't just cross the border to Mexico and be home, so it's a little more complicated for them. I think we are already seeing them hiding… when we did the warrants in Aurora last week, we didn't find as many TdA members as we wanted to, and that's because they know we are looking for them and they are on the run, but guess what? We are looking for them everywhere we go.' A message Pullen said is as strong as ever, especially with the renewed partnerships between federal agencies. 'I've been in law enforcement, with the DEA, for 22 years and I've never seen cooperation like this before, and part of it is because the new administration has told us to get rid of all the hurdles,' he said. 'Nothing stands in our way from our goal of keeping Americans safer and they are requiring for us to work together and we are happily doing it.' Pullen pointed to these recent arrests as a key example. 'We have not only gone into depth with their drug trafficking network, but we are working with other state and federal counterparts on the human trafficking piece, the gun trafficking, and started to illuminate the entire organization.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
