COVINGTON, LA – On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, a federal partner investigation led to the conviction of James Spikes, Jr., 48, of Bogalusa, Louisiana, on felony charges involving the trafficking of significant quantities of fentanyl and illegal weapon possession. Following a trial in St. Tammany Parish, a jury found Spikes...

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...

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...

NEW ORLEANS – Following a rigorous multi-agency investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Fentanyl Overdose Response Team (FORT), two individuals have been sentenced to significant prison terms for their roles in the distribution of a lethal fentanyl mixture that claimed the life of 26-year-old Dustin Banks. On April...

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...

NEW ORLEANS – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a week-long operational surge aimed at dismantling the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world. Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February by the Trump Administration...

WASHINGTON — In a superseding indictment unsealed today, high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel are facing federal charges for their alleged involvement in trafficking hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into southern Illinois and laundering the proceeds to Mexico. “The Sinaloa Cartel relies on drug trafficking to finance...

FAYETTEVILLE – The final member of a Northwest Arkansas drug trafficking organization was sentenced to federal prison for crimes related to the distribution of fentanyl. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearings for the United States District Court in Fayetteville. According to court documents, agents with...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed two twin brothers in St. Charles County in 2023 to 14 years in prison. Jesse Charleston, 35, of Florissant, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – SAUL MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ (“MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ”), age 38, a resident of Texas, was sentenced on April 30, 2025, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of...