SAN DIEGO - America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over-2.4 percent of the population-abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month...

LOS ANGELES - Two Colombian drug kingpins have been extradited to Los Angeles on federal charges of overseeing shipments of thousands of pounds of cocaine from Colombian laboratories to Central American distribution hubs, ultimately destined for sale in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the United States, including more than $70...

LOS ANGELES - John S. Comer, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA), and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today an indictment charging Alejandro Javier Rodriguez-Jimenez, Jesus Rodriguez-Jimenez, Eloy Cardenas-Moreno, Sergio Urbina...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, was arrested this morning and charged with distributing oxycodone and other highly addictive drugs without any legitimate medical purpose in exchange for sex acts. The doctor was taken into custody by San Diego Drug...

LOS ANGELES - Two doctors who each operated medical offices in Lynwood have been arrested on federal drug charges that allege they issued prescriptions for narcotics and sedatives without a medical purpose. The doctors - Sonny Oparah, 75, of Long Beach, and Edward Ridgill, 64, of Ventura - surrendered to...

LOS ANGELES - As a result of a drug distribution conspiracy and racketeering indictment issued last week by a federal grand jury, 31 members and associates of a Santa Fe Springs-based street gang were arrested today on charges related to a wide-ranging criminal enterprise controlled by a member of the...

HONOLULU - Chief United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright on Tuesday sentenced Aaron Hu, 52, of Kailua, to 46 months imprisonment for possessing with intent to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine and heroin within 1,000 feet of a public elementary school on March 30, 2015. Hu was convicted on...

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A federal grand jury has indicted a doctor who operated a medical clinic in Fountain Valley, as well as two physician assistants who worked at the clinic, on federal drug trafficking charges that allege they issued prescriptions for dangerous and addictive narcotics without a medical purpose...

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles-area doctor was arrested this morning after being indicted on federal “structuring” charges that allege he made hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash deposits designed to circumvent federal reporting requirements. Dr. Washington Bryan II, 47, was arrested this morning at his residence in Westwood...

LOS ANGELES - An El Monte man who pleaded guilty to four separate crimes related to gang activity has been sentenced to serve 210 months in federal prison. Christian “Bossy” Lafargo, 30, was sentenced Thursday by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including...