SEATTLE- This holiday season, full of travel and family gatherings, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle Division is urging communities across the Pacific Northwest to make the most of this time together by having conversations about the dangers of fentanyl. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our nation has ever...

Tacoma – A 61-year-old Auburn, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to twelve years in prison for his leadership role in a multi-state drug distribution ring announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Thomas Carver has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple prior convictions related...

WASHINGTON – Operation OD Justice is a DEA initiative born out of a critical need to investigate drug poisoning and overdose deaths across the U.S. The initiative, launched in 2021 by DEA’s Los Angeles and San Diego Field Divisions, offers training, resources, and poisoning response coordinators to assist State and...

BOISE – Efren Alexander Aviles-Pacheco, 29, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, illegally living in Ontario, Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Aviles-Pacheco to serve 10...

Tacoma – A 66-year-old Tacoma man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 75 months in prison for his leadership role in a drug distribution ring tied to the white supremacist Aryan Family prison gang, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Ronnie Griffin is the stepfather of...

POCATELLO – Andrew George Haney, 41, of Torrance, California, and Anthony Michael Stratton, 35, of Pocatello, were sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, in May 2023, Stratton provided Haney with the money to...

From November 12-13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) participated in the tenth Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group in Shanghai, China. DOJ, DEA, and CBP officials met with law enforcement counterparts from China’s Ministry of...

Seattle – A 53-year-old resident of Rochester, Washington was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 7 years in prison for two federal felonies related to his armed drug trafficking activity. Waylan Graves was arrested twice in a four-month period in 2023, each time with distribution amounts of dangerous...

Spokane, Wash. - Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic in Omak, Washington, agreed to pay a $15,000 Controlled Substances Act penalty and to institute corrective actions in regard to its pharmacy and controlled substances policy and procedures. To protect the public, the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations place legal responsibilities...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration hosted the third annual National Family Summit on Fentanyl on November 14 and 15. For the past three years, DEA has invited families who have lost a loved one to a fentanyl drug poisoning or overdose to gather in the nation’s capital and...