Arizona
Kingpin: Arizona father and son ran large-scale drug trafficking ring, DOJ says
PHOENIX – The Department of Justice says the two leaders of a large-scale, drug-trafficking ring are a father and son with roots in Phoenix.
In addition to charges of narcotics, conspiracy and money laundering, prosecutors are charging the two men with the “Kingpin” statute, also known as the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute.
In January 2024, a federal grand jury in Johnstown, Pennsylvania charged 35 people in a second superseding indictment, accusing the group of participating in a “violent transnational drug and money laundering operation” between August 2021 and June 2023.
Twenty-six of the 35 defendants are from the Phoenix area. A wiretap investigation by the FBI led to the discovery of the alleged drug ring.
Marcos Monarrez-Mendoza mugshot
Marcos Monarrez-Mendoza, 55, was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2013 for using the mail to set up a methamphetamine delivery system in Texas. A decade later, prosecutors believe he and his son Marcos Monarrez Jr. – aka “Nene” – are the leaders of the Monarrez Drug Trafficking Organization based in Phoenix.
The father and son are accused of importing millions of fentanyl pills, kilograms of fentanyl powder, hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and dozens of kilos of cocaine from Mexico and selling it throughout the U.S.
Court documents say the Monarrez DTO worked with four major suppliers from Mexico and Phoenix. Those four men are also charged in this case, including Jaime Ledesma.
Ledesma is serving time in an Arizona state prison for previous convictions of narcotics possession for sale and weapons misconduct.
Investigators say Monarrez DTO paid numerous distributors and couriers to transport and deliver shipments of fentanyl, meth and cocaine to re-distributors in Phoenix, Seattle, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Wichita, Kansas, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Western Pennsylvania.
Through court records, FOX 10 identified some of the defendants accused of working for Monarrez-Mendoza to distribute illicit drugs, including Cesar Monarrez – aka “Pollo,” Colby Barrow – aka “Bando,” Donald Garwood and Valeriz Sanchez, all based in the Phoenix area.
Carlos Zamora – aka “Calancho” – is not only accused of re-distributing fentanyl and meth – but law enforcement calls him the “enforcer” of the operation and says he was paid by Monarrez Jr. to perpetrate violence, including a drive-by shooting.
Where does our state stand amongst drug trafficking nationwide?
“We are ground zero for drug trafficking right here,” says Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz of the DEA’s Phoenix Field Division.
Since 2020, Oz and her team have been on the frontlines of the fentanyl crisis in Arizona, seizing historic amounts of drugs.
“Synthetics are the wave of the future,” she says. “With methamphetamine and fentanyl, the cartels have learned chemistry and they’re making concoctions in the jungles and basements and kitchens. They’re packaging those up and selling them, bringing them into the United States and selling them here.”
She says the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion – known as “CJNG” – are the largest Mexican criminal syndicates that threaten the U.S., but it’s not migrants that primarily bring in illicit drugs on foot.
Couriers or “mules” drive through legal ports of entry at the southern border to bring drugs into Arizona.
Authorities also seize drugs at airports like Phoenix Sky Harbor, discovering products hidden in checked luggage and containers. By land and by air, Oz says it’s moving fast and agents are trying to keep up.
“The cartels find very innovative and creative ways to conceal loads and bring them into this country. We’ve seen them inside teddy bears if they go through the mail. Everything that you can imagine, think drug trafficking, illicit drug trafficking is a $3 trillion business. So that’s a lot of money, a lot of reasons to try and bring poison into this country. So, they will be very creative. They will do anything they can to get their poison into the United States,” Oz said.
The black market at the southern border is where drugs and firearms trafficking collide.
“In Mexico you can only buy a weapon through the army. There are only two stores in all of Mexico, and you have to have a permit in order to buy a weapon. So, it is extremely controlled arms regulation or weapons regulation,” says Rafael Barcelo Durazo.
Barcelo is Tucson’s Mexican Consul. He says both sides of the border feel the negative effects.
In the U.S. government’s case against the Monarrez DTO, one of its alleged suppliers – Humberto Arredondo-Soto, was paid in military-grade firearms, including AK-47 and short-stock Draco rifles, Glock handguns and FN SCAR assault rifles smuggled to Mexico by couriers from the U.S.
“From 75 to 80% of the weapons seized in the commission of a crime in Mexico, those were weapons bought in the United States and were illegally trafficked into Mexico,” said Barcelo.
Court records reveal the magnitude of executed search warrants linked to the Monarrez Drug Trafficking Organization.
Phoenix take down seizure
In 2023, authorities searched nine Phoenix locations, seizing 27 kilograms of fentanyl pills, seven and a half kilograms of fentanyl powder, nearly 50 pounds of meth, 12 firearms and more than $200,000 in cash.
Seattle take down seizure
At the same time in Seattle, five search warrants led to the seizure of 27 kilograms of fentanyl pills, 14 firearms and nearly $400,000.
Pills hidden in supplement bottles seized in a flight from Phoenix to Minneapolis in 2022
This seizure happened in 2022 after investigators learned a passenger on a commercial flight from Phoenix to Minneapolis was in contact with members of the Monarrez DTO.
Just weeks later in another alleged smuggling attempt from Phoenix to Minneapolis, authorities seized two protein tubs of fentanyl pills, weighing 20 kilograms, also linked to the Monarrez organization.
“The organized crime has taken so many lives in Mexico and I think from the public opinion point of view in the United States, it’s only the drugs that are the priority. But you cannot tackle the drug trafficking if you don’t tackle, also, the illegal trafficking of weapons from the United States,” says Barcelo.
It doesn’t stop behind bars
The DOJ says while Monarrez Jr. was in prison in the Western District of Pennsylvania, he used contraband cell phones to communicate with other co-conspirators on the outside and orchestrate the distribution of 500,000 fentanyl pills throughout the nation.
Marcos Sr. was arrested by Chandler Police in November 2023 on drug and money laundering charges.
Out of the 35 defendants, five have taken plea deals and four of them have been sentenced.
Oz says Arizona is ground zero for drug trafficking here in Arizona, impacting so many families across the state.
‘We watched her die’
“I miss her so much every day. I miss her laugh. She was very sarcastic. She was always laughing, always making jokes. And she was just super fun. She just lit up everybody’s life,” says Danya Ayers, the mother of Hannah Pairrett.
Ayers doesn’t miss a chance to tell her daughter’s story because she’s no longer here.
In June 2019, she warned her 16-year-old daughter about the dangers of buying pills off the street.
“She actually said ‘I would never be stupid enough,’ which were her words. ‘I’m not stupid enough to go out and buy something if I don’t. I’m not going to do that because I know better,’” said Danya.
But Hannah ultimately bought what she believed were three Adderall pills. An hour later, Hannah overdosed and was rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Danya remembers seeing her daughter in the ICU.
“And if she does make it, it would be a miracle, and she would not be the same person because she would have been severely brain-damaged because of how long she was down for,” Danya said.
The pill Hannah took was laced with fentanyl. Her death was one of 1,294 fatal opioid overdoses in Arizona in 2019.
“We watched her die,” says Danya.
For Danya, the repercussions of one drug sale changed her family’s life.
In November 2023, Michael Allen Fox was sentenced to six years in prison for the distribution of fentanyl that caused Hannah Pairrett’s death.
Fox is not linked to the Monarrez DTO.
“There’s a little bit of closure because he did get sentenced, and he is in prison now. But the sentencing was only six years. So, we don’t feel like that was the justice that she deserved,” says Danya.
Meanwhile, the DEA says fentanyl seizures in Arizona have started to decline.
“We have a ton of fentanyl that’s coming into the United States. However, I’m happy to say that our numbers are plateauing and even going down just slightly,” says Oz.
Danya makes it her mission to educate parents about the fears of fentanyl and to watch out for the signs before it’s too late.
“To watch your child die or to hear that your child is gone. Nobody, you don’t want that. Nobody wants that,” she says. “So that’s what I really want to try to get out there is you never forget. It never goes away. And it never stops hurting to lose your child like that.”
As for the Kingpin Statute, te sentence for a conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
Only a handful of Americans have been charged with that statute.
Arizona
Dana Kennedy: A caregiver advocating for Arizona’s aging population | Arizona Capitol Times
For Dana Kennedy, the state director at the Arizona branch of the American Association of Retired Persons, aging is not only a political issue, but a personal one. A social worker by profession, Kennedy brings her own experience of caring for aging family members and clients to her work advocating for Arizona seniors at the state Capitol and beyond.
Kennedy sat down with the Arizona Capitol Times to discuss the biggest issues impacting aging Arizonans and her personal connections to her advocacy work.
The questions and answers have been edited lightly for style and clarity.
Can you tell me a bit about your career trajectory?
I became a social worker in Orange County, California, during the Orange County bankruptcy. I did home health and hospice, so I basically connected family members to the services to help keep them in their own home. With the county going bankrupt, people were going to have to pay for (services), so I made the tough decisions (about whether) they were able to stay safe in their own home or not. That’s when I realized our long-term care system was broken. With a bachelor’s degree in social work, you really need to get your master’s, but I wanted to focus on macro policy and help solve our long-term care policy problem. So I ended up going to Boston University, and I got my master’s in social work. In both undergrad and grad school, I got certificates in gerontology, the study of aging. I’ve always been an aging nerd. I became an AARP member when I was 20. After graduate school, I went to (Washington) D.C., and that’s a very broken system as well. I wanted to work on long-term care policy, and people are like, that’s not a sexy issue, that’s never going to happen. Fast forward to being the state director at AARP, it’s my dream job.
What do the day-to-day responsibilities look like in your role?
It changes all the time. Within one week I have been at the Capitol doing a press conference regarding a bill that we were trying to get unstuck, then the following weekend I was in Long Beach representing AARP at the National Conference for Mayors. Then the following week I was down at the Corporation Commission because we’re intervening in the rate case. So I can go anywhere from working with mayors to working with state legislators to working on utility issues. At the same time, I’m also a caregiver. I just lost my dad, but I was flying back and forth to California to help my dad transition to hospice and then pass away, and I’m bringing my mom out next week for a clinical trial at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute. So I work on all these really important issues, but at the same time I’m helping myself as well as our staff navigate aging issues, because we’re all going through it. And if we’re not going through it, we will one day. So it’s really a fascinating job, and it’s everything that I ever wanted to do.
What initially drew you to issues affecting seniors?
I’m the first person in my family to go to college … and I worked my way through college. I was a paid caregiver, and I took care of a person who became disabled giving birth to her first child. She was in a wheelchair, and then her mom had a stroke, so I took care of both of them. It was such a hands-on experience. At the same time, my great-grandfather came to live with me and my mom when I was in high school. I watched the role reversal of what my family went through, (where the children) act like the parent, even though they’re not the parent. It didn’t really work out with my great-grandfather living with my grandparents, so he came to live with my mom and myself. So I always had this desire to work with aging, and I really wanted to work with families to help them deal with the transition of dealing with aging parents, that role reversal.
Can you talk a bit about how your personal experiences with aging family members inform the work you do?
It’s so important. (My great-grandfather) lived to be 99 years old, and he was completely cognitively intact until his last day. But I helped my family navigate him being able to make his own decisions. I know what’s best for my family. It doesn’t mean that my family is going to take my advice. That’s where it gets really hard with parents and the aging population because they still have autonomy until they’re not able to make decisions. When you go from mild cognitive impairment to all the sudden moderate cognitive impairment to severe cognitive impairment, then it’s that slippery slope of wondering, how do I take their keys away? They need somebody to come into the home to help with transferring, but they don’t want anybody to come into the home. And they get to make that decision until they’re not able to. I think (my experience) allows me to understand that everybody gets to make their own decisions, but at the end of the day, we need to make sure that they have the tools to be able to make that decision.
What is the most pressing issue impacting Arizona’s aging population?
It’s a national issue, and it’s Social Security. The Social Security solvency issue is front and center. We’ve all heard that Social Security is always going to be there. But Congress has kicked the ball down the road all these years, and all of a sudden we’re at a critical point. What’s going to happen if Congress doesn’t act? There’s going to be an automatic cut to Social Security. We have a population issue. People pay into Social Security, it’s a pay as you go system, and people aren’t having as many babies and we’re also not allowing immigrants into this country right now. So we need people to continue to pay into Social Security.
What has been your biggest accomplishment in this role?
There’s a few things that I’m really proud of. During COVID, we were the very first state in the nation to get visitation policies for people in long-term care facilities, and I’m really proud of that. We worked with Governor (Doug) Ducey on that. Families were locked out and residents were locked in and it was really hard. I’m also really proud that you know we got the (Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program), which lowers the cost of prescription drugs for everybody. We also supported Proposition 104. That was a city tax issue, and it was when I first started at AARP, but that provided $31.5 billion in transportation infrastructure over 30 years. People don’t realize that transportation is such an important issue as you age. Most likely you’re going to lose your keys one day. What happens when you lose your keys and you can no longer drive? You become socially isolated. Social isolation is like smoking a pack of cigarettes every single day, it’s really damaging.
What has been the most challenging part of this role?
I don’t understand why I have such a hard time getting some bills passed. (This session) we wanted to allow cameras in a long-term care facility and (that bill) died. Three years in a row it died. That for me is a really hard pill to swallow. I’ve done three full distance Iron Men, so I don’t give up. I’m persistent. I have a very, very strong mental game and giving up is just not in my DNA. If there’s a will, there’s a way, and I’m going to find it. As long as I have to read another report of somebody being abused and neglected in a long-term care facility, I will continue to advocate to be able to provide tools to stop that abuse and neglect.
Arizona
Arizona Lottery Powerball, The Pick results for June 20, 2026
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Arizona Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Saturday, June 20, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers
16-20-44-48-50, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning The Pick numbers
08-14-30-36-38-39
Check The Pick payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 Evening numbers
Evening: 8-9-7
Winning Fantasy 5 numbers
02-17-23-38-39
Check Fantasy 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Triple Twist numbers
14-20-21-27-28-30
Check Triple Twist payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news and results
What time is the Powerball drawing?
Powerball drawings are at 7:59 p.m. Arizona time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
How much is a Powerball lottery ticket today?
In Arizona, Powerball tickets cost $2 per game, according to the Arizona Lottery.
How to play the Powerball
To play, select five numbers from 1 to 69 for the white balls, then select one number from 1 to 26 for the red Powerball.
You can choose your lucky numbers on a play slip or let the lottery terminal randomly pick your numbers.
To win, match one of the 9 Ways to Win:
- 5 white balls + 1 red Powerball = Grand prize.
- 5 white balls = $1 million.
- 4 white balls + 1 red Powerball = $50,000.
- 4 white balls = $100.
- 3 white balls + 1 red Powerball = $100.
- 3 white balls = $7.
- 2 white balls + 1 red Powerball = $7.
- 1 white ball + 1 red Powerball = $4.
- 1 red Powerball = $4.
There’s a chance to have your winnings increased two, three, four, five and 10 times through the Power Play for an additional $1 per play. Players can multiply non-jackpot wins up to 10 times when the jackpot is $150 million or less.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Arizona Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $100 and may redeem winnings up to $599. For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Arizona Lottery offices. By mail, send a winner claim form, winning lottery ticket and a copy of a government-issued ID to P.O. Box 2913, Phoenix, AZ 85062.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a winner claim form and deliver the form, along with the ticket and government-issued ID to any of these locations:
Phoenix Arizona Lottery Office: 4740 E. University Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85034, 480-921-4400. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed holidays. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Tucson Arizona Lottery Office: 2955 E. Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85716, 520-628-5107. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed holidays. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Phoenix Sky Harbor Lottery Office: Terminal 4 Baggage Claim, 3400 E. Sky Harbor Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85034, 480-921-4424. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday, closed holidays. This office can cash prizes up to $49,999.
Kingman Arizona Lottery Office: Inside Walmart, 3396 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, AZ 86409, 928-753-8808. Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, closed holidays. This office can cash prizes up to $49,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://www.arizonalottery.com/.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Arizona Republic editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Arizona
Troopers arrest ‘LARPer’ who was running late for competition in northern Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — A hurry to a LARPing tournament ended with a very real arrest in northern Arizona.
On June 11, troopers stopped a driver clocked at 106 mph in a 65 mph zone in Flagstaff, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The driver told troopers she was running late for a “LARPing tournament” in Colorado.
LARP stands for live-action role-playing, a hobby where participants dress in costume and act out characters in fictional settings.
She was arrested for criminal speeding and booked into the Coconino County jail.
“Speeding to save a fictional realm is no excuse for drivers on Arizona highways,” DPS said in a Facebook post.
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