PONCE, Puerto Rico — The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division, in coordination with Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners, announced the seizure of approximately 1,418 pounds (643.3 kilograms) of cocaine and the arrest of three Venezuelan nationals following a maritime interdiction operation conducted southeast of Puerto Rico. This interdiction...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Four individuals from California are facing charges in a multi-defendant conspiracy accused of burglarizing pharmacies and distributing multiple controlled substances throughout southern Illinois and across the country. Three of the four Defendants are in custody. A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the following...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Texas man appeared in federal court on April 30, 2026, after being charged by criminal complaint on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, for possessing a substance containing methamphetamine with intent to distribute it, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). William Mayes, Jr., 35, was...

ST LOUIS– The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will recognize National Fentanyl Awareness Day, Wednesday, April 29, as a show of support for the agency’s valued partners in law enforcement, public health and non-profit agencies. Fentanyl-related deaths have decreased in the past several years, yet fentanyl remains the leading cause...

San Juan, Puerto Rico — On April 17, 2026, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division, in close coordination with its international and interagency partners, supported a significant narcotics interdiction operation conducted by the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas (DNCD) that resulted in the seizure of 1,707 kilograms (1.7...

CHICAGO — Federal law enforcement this month arrested an alleged drug trafficker and seized 22 firearms and multiple kilograms of narcotics from his Chicago storage unit. Mario Neustadter sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer in Chicago on three occasions in January of February of this year...

ST. LOUIS – Three St. Louis area residents have admitted selling fentanyl and other drugs via social media, including drugs that caused one fatal and one nonfatal overdose. Aeman Ali, 23, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday to aiding and abetting the maintaining of a drug-involved...

ST. LOUIS – A medical doctor and owner of an urgent care clinic in Columbia, Missouri was arrested Wednesday on an indictment that accuses him of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid and providing prescription drugs to friends, people suffering from substance use disorders and those with whom he had sexual relationships...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division announced the successful extradition of Nixon Manuel Marino-Carreño from Colombia to Puerto Rico, where he will face federal drug trafficking charges in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Marino-Carreño was arrested in Colombia...

ST. LOUIS – Jerry Dale Leech, a chiropractor who committed healthcare fraud and issued fraudulent subscriptions for controlled substance, was sentenced to 100 months in prison and ordered to repay $4.7 million to Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare. Leech, 53, of Clayton, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis...