ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. Through intensified enforcement operations and...

WASHINGTON — In a superseding indictment unsealed today, high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel are facing federal charges for their alleged involvement in trafficking hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into southern Illinois and laundering the proceeds to Mexico. “The Sinaloa Cartel relies on drug trafficking to finance...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division joined forces with law enforcement agencies across Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois to safely dispose of 33,840 pounds of unneeded and expired medications at the 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 26. Nationally, more than 620,000 pounds...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A district judge sentenced a California man to 19 years in federal prison after he admitted to trafficking fentanyl to the Metro East. Nefer Ojeda-Elenes, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance: fentanyl and one count of distribution of...

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Monday found a St. Louis man guilty of a cocaine trafficking charge and charges related to the death of nine people during a nearly six-year period. Evidence and testimony presented at trial showed that Anthony “TT” Jordan...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Columbia, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing fentanyl that he intended to distribute in Springfield, Mo. Michael E. Hunt, Jr., 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Hunt was found guilty...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Texas County, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Richard D. Sims, 63, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Sims to forfeit to...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Portageville, Mo., man has been convicted in a jury trial of trafficking methamphetamine and illegally possessing firearms. Michael C. Patton, 36, was found guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 14, of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and being...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019 to 14 years in prison. Zachary Hovis, 24, provided fentanyl to an 18-year-old woman in the parking...

BENTON, Ill. – A district court judge sentenced two Houston, Texas, men to federal prison for burglarizing pharmacies of controlled substances in Casey, Illinois, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri. McKindley V. Allen, 32, and DaLeon J. Fontennet, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary involving controlled substances, conspiracy to distribute...