APR 05 - BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. - On April 5, 2017, Dr. Peter Katz, a licensed physician practicing in Boynton Beach, Florida, was arrested at his residence in Boynton Beach, on state charges of willingly and unlawfully writing a prescription for hydrocodone/acetaminophen, a Schedule II controlled substance for which there...

WASHINGTON - DEA and other federal officials today announced the arrest of Kassim Tajideen, a prominent financial supporter of the Hizballah terror organization. Tajideen is charged with evading U.S. sanctions imposed on him because of his financial support of Hizballah. Tajideen, 62, of Beirut, Lebanon, was arrested overseas on March...

WESTON, Fla. - Hugo Margenat-Castro, 25, of Orlando, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, 100 grams or more of heroin and distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the death of another. He faces a mandatory minimum term of 20 years and up to life, in...

WESTON, Fla. - Eric C. Falkowski, 35, from Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Falkowski previously pleaded guilty...

WASHINGTON - A senior paramilitary leader and one of Colombia’s most notorious drug traffickers was sentenced on Friday to serve 198 months in prison for his role leading an international drug trafficking conspiracy responsible for the importation of ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States. DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg...

WASHINGTON D.C. - China’s National Narcotics Control Commission announced this week that scheduling controls against four fentanyl-class substances - carfentanil, furanyl fentanyl, valeryl fentanyl, and acryl fentanyl - will begin on March 1, 2017. This announcement is the culmination of ongoing collaboration between the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the Government...

ORMAND BEACH, Florida - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) Central Florida Region Office arrested Howard Perch near his residence in Ormond Beach, Florida, on charges of obtaining controlled substances by fraud and providing false info to obtain them. Perch is the Executive Director of Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach, Florida...

WASHINGTON - DEA and the Southern District of New York today announced the arrival of four individuals from Kenya to New York charged with participating in a massive global drug trafficking enterprise, and includes the leader of a well-known organized crime family in Africa. BAKTASH AKASHA ABDALLA, a/k/a “Baktash Akasha,”...

MONGOMERY, Ala. - Dr. Robert M. Ritchea, 54, of LaGrange, Georgia, pled guilty to conspiring to unlawfully distribute a controlled substance through operating a “pill mill” and money laundering scheme, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Bret Hamilton and United States Attorney George L. Beck, Jr. A “pill mill”...

WASHINGTON - Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates today announced that Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known by various aliases including “El Chapo,” will face charges filed in Brooklyn, New York, following his extradition to the United States from Mexico, alleging that he was operating a continuing criminal enterprise and other...