CLEVELAND – Five individuals will now face prison time for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy that trafficked illegal drugs from California to Ohio. Terrance Gainer, 29, of Akron, was sentenced to 240 months (20 years) in prison and five years of supervised released after pleading guilty to: Conspiracy...

DETROIT – Barry Willis, a Detroit gas station owner has been convicted of several federal crimes stemming from his involvement with a Detroit-based stash house that held over 42 kilograms of fentanyl, a pill press, and a variety of other materials used to manufacture fentanyl pills. On March 28, 2024...

DETROIT – As students return to school, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Detroit Field Division is reminding communities in its area of responsibility in Michigan, Ohio and northern Kentucky, about the hidden threat of drug trafficking through social media platforms, while also encouraging families to have conversations about the potentially...

DETROIT – Juan Romo-Padilla, 58, owner of La Posada – a Mexican restaurant, convenience store, and money remitter business located in southwest, Detroit - was arrested Sept. 3, 2026, following a joint investigation by the DEA Detroit Field Division and IRS Criminal Investigation. United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr...

CLEVELAND – Hundreds of individuals were apprehended and taken into custody throughout northern Ohio as part of a multi-agency strategic initiative to combat violent crime. The DEA Detroit Field Division was part of a multi-jurisdictional sweep across eight cities, known as Operation Northern Shield, was coordinated among federal, state, and...

DETROIT - On Friday, August 21, 2026, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will join Facing Fentanyl, to unite families, communities, and organizations across the country in recognizing National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the national observance which honors and remembers the lives lost...

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Matthew Ray Calas of Spring Valley with distributing a powerful synthetic opioid—N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene—that resulted in the death of a 67-year-old San Diego resident. According to court records, Calas advertised drugs for sale on Craigslist using coded language. In...

CALEXICO – Federal law enforcement officers seized more than half a ton of cocaine worth more than $20 million hidden in the floorboards of a commercial truck and attached flatbed trailer at the Calexico Port of Entry. It was the second-largest cocaine seizure in 2026 in the Southern District of...

DETROIT - Janero Van DeMario Garrett, 49, a United States citizen and multi-convicted felon, was apprehended in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico July 17, after a joint operation conducted by the DEA Detroit Field Division, DEA-Mexico, U.S. Marshals Mexico Foreign Field Office and U.S. Marshals Detroit Office, FBI-Detroit, and Mexican authorities, announced...

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey announced that two Colombian nationals made their initial appearance in a federal court in Grand Rapids on Friday after they were extradited to the United States on Thursday. According to the indictment, from November 2024 through...