Yvette Porras-Ochoa, Cocaine Trafficking, Arizona 2024

PHOENIX, Ariz. – In a major blow to organized crime in Arizona, Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 42, of Wittmann, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in a large-scale cocaine trafficking and money laundering operation.

Porras-Ochoa, the head of an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of Cocaine, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Prescription Controlled Substances Oxycodone and Promethazine-Codeine, and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering on August 22, 2024.

According to court documents, Porras-Ochoa used an Arizona-licensed medical practitioner's authorization to prescribe controlled substances and recruited others to pick up prescription drugs from Arizona-based pharmacies. She then sold them, as well as cocaine, to out-of-state customers and laundered some of the drug proceeds through real estate transactions.

During a year-and-a-half long investigation, investigators were able to seize several large loads of drugs connected with Porras-Ochoa and confirm her involvement in the distribution of 884.2 grams of oxycodone, 33,330 units of promethazine-codeine, 4,690 units of alprazolam, 27,200 units of tramadol, 63,900 units of midazolam, and 2.96 kilograms of cocaine.

The investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers and money launderers.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Unites States Postal Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and Phoenix Police Department conducted the investigation in this case.

Porras-Ochoa was sentenced to 180 months in prison by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/drug-trafficker-and-money-launderer-sentenced-15-years-prison