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...

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...

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...

SEATTLE - Three people involved in an elaborate scheme to obtain narcotic drugs by using forged prescriptions both online and in person now face federal charges. The conspirators used stolen DEA registration numbers to create phony prescriptions while using various online tools to make it appear that the prescriptions were...

SEATTLE - DEA reprises this weekend one of its most popular community programs: National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. On Saturday October 22 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the public can dispose of their unused, unwanted prescription medications at one of 156 collection sites in the Pacific Northwest, operated...

SAN DIEGO - America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over-2.4 percent of the population-abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month...

BOISE, Idaho - Brian Weaver Cluff, 44, of Meridian, Idaho, was sentenced on October 12, 2016, in United States District Court to 322 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime. U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian from the...

PORTLAND, Ore. - On Wednesday, September 21, 2016, the Drug Enforcement (DEA) will join leaders from federal, state and local law enforcement and public health agencies in “Taking Stock,” a roundtable discussion examining Oregon’s prescription opioid and heroin epidemic. DEA in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau...

BOISE, Idaho - Michael Minas, 50, of Boise, Idaho, was sentenced on September 8, 2016, to eight years in federal prison on 80 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, was arrested this morning and charged with distributing oxycodone and other highly addictive drugs without any legitimate medical purpose in exchange for sex acts. The doctor was taken into custody by San Diego Drug...