SEATTLE - Cardinal Health has agreed to pay $34 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that the Lakeland, Florida-based distributor failed to report to the Drug Enforcement (DEA) suspicious orders of Class II controlled substances by pharmacies located in central Florida and Maryland. The settlement also resolves a civil...

TACOMA, Wash. - An investigation begun by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team in February 2014 resulted today in the arrest of 19 people with ties to a methamphetamine distribution ring. Law enforcement served 24 search warrants on locations in Washington and Arizona in connection...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Today, Maurice Abad Malabed, aka “Moe,” 47, and David Patrick Christensen, 29, both of Anchorage were indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage for trafficking in methamphetamine bound for Utqiaġvik, (formerly Barrow, Alaska). The indictment charges Malabed and Christensen with conspiracy, attempted distribution, and possession with...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he fraudulently and illegally wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets for patients with no medical necessity, one of whom was a sex partner...

SAN DIEGO - Roberto Ponce-Rocha was extradited from Colombia on November 17, 2016, where he had been arrested for charges arising out of his leadership role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving the transportation of large-scale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States. As part of the...

SEATTLE - A Drug Enforcement (DEA) led task force conducted raids at 14 locations across King and Pierce Counties, as well as locations in Oregon, following a two-year investigation of a drug trafficking organization. Law enforcement searched residential and business locations in Maple Valley, Enumclaw, Ravensdale, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Rachel Rangel, 29, of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment on November 3, 2016, for her role in a narcotics trafficking organization. U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason also ordered Rangel to serve five years of supervised release following her release from custody. On June...

SEATTLE - Eleven people were arrested yesterday in Washington and Nevada in connection with a large drug smuggling and distribution ring operating in four western Washington counties. An additional person was already in immigration custody. The arrests coincided with the execution of 24 court-authorized search warrants for properties located in...

SEATTLE - Six years after the DEA launched its National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Americans continue to turn out in large numbers to rid their homes of unused medications, including controlled prescription (CPDs) such as painkillers, tranquilizers, and stimulants. The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington State, Idaho and Alaska) made...

SAN DIEGO - The final tally is in from the 12th National Prescription Take-Back Day which took place Saturday, October 22, and DEA and its partners took back nearly 8,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 39 locations in San Diego County and four in Imperial County. Over the course of...