DETROIT – With enthusiastic participation nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners have now collected nearly 12 million pounds of unused or expired prescription medications over the course of 17 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events. During the 17th semiannual event on April 27, the Take Back initiative...

CINCINATTI – Attorney General William P. Barr and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II, together with multiple law enforcement partners, announced enforcement actions involving 60 charged defendants across 11 federal districts, including 31 doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners and seven other licensed medical professionals...

DAYTON, Ohio – Alandre J. Gilbreath, Jr., 34, of Springfield, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for possessing carfentanil. United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman, DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon, Springfield Police Chief Lee...

DETROIT – A former Oakland County reserve deputy sheriff will spend 49 months in prison for the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today. Joining Schneider in the announcement was DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon and FBI Detroit Division Special Agent...

DAYTON, Ohio – Craig H. Gilbreath, Jr., 20, of Springfield, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for possessing carfentanil. DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman, Springfield Police Chief Lee...

CLEVELAND – On Monday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 19, 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federation of State Medical Boards hosted two regional one-day Practitioner Diversion Awareness Conferences. Drug overdoses are still a public health crisis in the United States and the misuse of prescription opioids continue to...

CLEVELAND - Twenty-two people were indicted in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, heroin, fentanyl analogues including carfentanil, and other drugs, which they sold in Euclid and Cleveland to customers from across Northeast Ohio. Named in the 42-count indictment are: Joseph P. Gray, Jr., 30...

DETROIT – The Drug Enforcement Administration urges its DEA-registered practitioners and members of the public to be cautious of telephone calls from criminals posing as DEA or other law enforcement personnel threatening arrest and prosecution for supposed violations of federal drug laws or involvement in drug-trafficking activities. DEA continues to...

DETROIT – In an effort to mitigate vulnerabilities within the commerce stream that threaten the nation’s consumers and to protect national security, Homeland Security officials recently launched its Global Trade Task Force, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations-led multi-agency effort that leverages robust import and export controls...

CINCINNATI – A defendant was sentenced today in the first federally indicted carfentanil prosecution in the country. Phillip Watkins, 34, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 300 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin laced with carfentanil and attempting to murder a witness he believed...