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...

CALEXICO, Calif. – On May 1, 2019, Ezequiel Godinez-Cervantes was arrested at the Calexico Port of Entry on two warrants for violating the terms of supervised release. Godinez-Cervantes is a 77-year-old U.S. citizen. A warrant was issued for Godinez-Cervantes’ arrest in October 2018 by the U.S. District Court, Central District...

SAN DIEGO – With robust public participation over the course of 16 prior events, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors...

SAN DIEGO – Drug dealer Trevon Antone Lucas pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he sold pills containing fentanyl to a La Jolla man, causing his fatal overdose last year. Lucas, a resident of Highland, California, admitted in his plea agreement that he posted online advertisements for the...

PHOENIX – DEA announces the 17th National Prescription Drug Take Back will be held April 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time. Sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can anonymously return their unwanted, unneeded or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal. (DEA cannot...

PHOENIX – The Drug Enforcement Administration Phoenix Field Division, along with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, announce the arrest of naturopathic medical doctor Jelina Ip and her mother, Alane Ip, following the execution of state-authorized warrants yesterday morning in Tempe. The Ips were owners and operators of Ava Pain Management...

PHOENIX - Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman announced the arrest of Joshua Fassett, a 25-year-old Tempe man taken into custody by DEA agents. Fassett was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 10, 2019. The indictment and arrest of Fassett stemmed from a DEA investigation into the overdose...