HAMMOND, Ind. - Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and M. Scott Proctor, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, announced that Fernando Porras Jr., 64, of Hammond, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading...

ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. Through intensified enforcement operations and...

HAMMOND, Ind. - Alfred "Chip" Cooke III, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration – Merrillville, Indiana, and M. Scott Proctor, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, announced a 17-count indictment charging DeCarlos L. Smallwood, Robert Sanders, Kumar Bishop, Sanena Williams, and DeCarlos C...

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon who supplied the fentanyl that caused one fatal and two nonfatal overdoses in St. Louis in 2023 was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. On Dec. 2, 2023, Victor Mora approached three men who were at a gas station and offered to take...

URBANA, Ill. – Shane R. Catone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, and Gregory M. Gilmore, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced that a federal jury returned eight guilty verdicts on November 19, 2025, against Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 49...

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Shane R. Catone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, and Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced that a Cherry Valley, Illinois man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for distributing more...

ST. LOUIS – A 31-year-old man who sold counterfeit Xanax on the dark web, both before and after he was indicted for doing so, was sentenced to 54 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. “I hope you understand that you put people’s lives at risk,”...

ST. LOUIS –Communities in the tri-state Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division safely disposed of 25,726 pounds of unneeded and expired medications, October 25, at the 29th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Nationally, the DEA and its law enforcement partners removed 571,054 pounds of medication at 4,317 collection...

ST. LOUIS –The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division in partnership with law enforcement agencies across Missouri, Kansas and Southern Illinois, will host 186 National Prescription Drug Take Back Day locations in which unused, unnecessary and expired prescription medications will be collected between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday...

CHICAGO –The Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, in collaboration with numerous law enforcement partners and healthcare providers throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, will host the 29th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this Saturday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At nearly 4,000 collection sites throughout the...