NEW ORLEANS – On April 25, 2026, the DEA New Orleans Field Division joined local law enforcement partners across the Gulf Coast for the 30th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Within the division (which covers Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama), communities successfully removed a combined 63,119 pounds of unneeded...

WASHINGTON – On April 25, 2026, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration joined 4,306 law enforcement agencies across the country for the 30th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The bi-annual event collected 642,410 pounds of unneeded and expired medications at 4,417 collection sites nationwide. Since its inception in 2010, National...

The United States continues to face an unprecedented and evolving drug threat driven by illicit fentanyl, which is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances emerging in the illicit market. These combinations are making an already deadly drug supply even more unpredictable and lethal. Law enforcement and public...

MIAMI – A Chinese national and a Las Vegas man have been charged by federal indictment for their roles in a scheme to import large quantities of the powerful synthetic opioid protonitazene in the U.S. and distribute it as counterfeit pills. These charges stem from an investigation by the U.S...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Willie York, 47, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. York pled guilty on May 11, in federal court in Sioux City. York was...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Over the past week, federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, with the help of prosecutors, cleared 442 warrants, most of which are for violent crimes. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the results of “Operation Red Card”, a multi-agency law enforcement operation that identified...

Pensacola, FL – Frederick Donnell McLean Jr., 39, of Citrus Springs, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. U.S. Attorney Heekin...

SPOKANE, Wash. —On May 6, 2026, United States District Court Judge Thomas Rice sentenced Clinton Paul Patterson, age 42 to 240 months (20 years) in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release for his role in a significant fentanyl trafficking operation that distributed tens of thousands of...

MIAMI – A Port St. Lucie, Fla., man who attempted to obtain thousands of fentanyl pills through the mail and kept a firearm alongside drug proceeds was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon imposed the sentence on Juneem Jermain Barnes, 34, after he...

Jacksonville, FL – James Herbert Asberry, III (39, Jacksonville) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. As part of his sentence, the court ordered the forfeiture of $18,938...