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”...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Yan Ebyam, 39, of Missoula, Montana, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to six years in prison for two separate conspiracies to grow and distribute marijuana, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin and U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert joined...

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...

WASHINGTON - Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known by various aliases including “El Chapo,” has arrived in the United States to face criminal charges in connection with his leadership of the Mexican organized crime syndicate known as the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzman Loera is charged in six separate indictments throughout the United...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Nathan Hoffman, 56, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty today to manufacturing marijuana as part of a larger conspiracy to distribute marijuana throughout California, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin and U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. As part of his plea agreement, Hoffman...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Costco Wholesale will pay $11.75 million to settle allegations that its pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances (CSA) when they improperly filled prescriptions for controlled substances. The settlement resolves allegations that Costco pharmacies filled prescriptions that were incomplete, lacked valid DEA registration numbers or were for substances beyond...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - McKesson Corporation, one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances (CSA). The settlement resolves allegations that McKesson failed to design and implement an effective system to detect and report “suspicious...

FRESNO, Calif. - Chaudhry Ahmad Farooq, 24, of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to distribute heroin, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin and U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, from approximately November 2015 through August 2016...

WASHINGTON - McKesson (McKesson), one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances (CSA), the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) announced today. The nationwide settlement requires McKesson to suspend sales of controlled substances from distribution...