SAN DIEGO – A Chula Vista man was sentenced today in federal court to 10 years in prison for distributing fentanyl that led to the non-fatal overdoses of five people in Alpine, some of whom were revived by first responders with naloxone. In sentencing Joel Rodriguez of Chula Vista, U.S...

SAN DIEGO – April Spring Kelly admitted in federal court today that she smuggled more than 450,000 fentanyl pills from Mexico into the United States during a nine-month conspiracy from February to October of 2018. According to admissions in her plea agreement, Kelly smuggled the fentanyl pills through ports of...

SAN DIEGO – Willian Estuardo Lemus Lara, a suspected high-level cartel boss from Central America, was arraigned in federal court today on maritime cocaine trafficking charges. According to the documents filed in court, Lemus was the manager of the transportation and distribution cell responsible for facilitating multi-ton quantity cocaine loads...

LEMON GROVE, Calif. – Yesterday the United States Drug Enforcement Administration executed a federal search warrant at a warehouse located at 7648 Lemon Avenue, Lemon Grove, Calif., and uncovered a sophisticated hash oil refinery laboratory operation. Large quantities of ethanol were removed from the property by San Diego County HAZMAT...

SAN DIEGO – Indictments were unsealed today in San Diego federal court charging 43 members of a methamphetamine distribution network tied to the Sinaloa Cartel with federal drug trafficking and money laundering offenses. During the coordinated takedown that began early this morning, agents executed over a dozen search warrants. Agents...

WARNER SPRINGS, Calif. – Yesterday the DEA’s Narcotic Task Force executed a state search warrant at 30570 Chihuahua Valley Road, Warner Springs, Calif. Agents uncovered a sophisticated butane hash oil extraction lab inside three trailers on the property. In addition to extracting hash oil, the lab operators were also refining...

EL CAJON, Calif. – Yesterday, DEA’s Narcotic Task Force (NTF) responded to a hash oil extraction laboratory explosion in the city of El Cajon. This explosion occurred less than two weeks after the significant hash oil extraction laboratory explosion in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego, which sent three...

PHOENIX – DEA Phoenix Division Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman announces the arrest of Jocelyn Lopez-Sanchez, a 22-year old Tucson woman who is now in custody following an indictment obtained by DEA agents Wednesday afternoon. Lopez-Sanchez was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 1, 2019. The indictment...

PHOENIX – The DEA’s Phoenix Field Division has finished calculating the amount of drugs collected from those agencies who participated in the April 27th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Arizonans turned out in massive numbers and disposed of 10,915.69 pounds, over five tons, of prescription drugs. “The citizens of...

SAN DIEGO and IMPERIAL, Calif. – With enthusiastic participation nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners have now collected nearly 12 million pounds of unused or expired prescription medications over the course of 17 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events. During the 17th semiannual event on April 27...