WASHINGTON – This week the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released the established aggregate production quotas (APQ) for schedule I and II controlled substances and assessment of annual needs (AAN) for the list I chemicals ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine for 2026. “DEA is committed to ensuring that patients can access the...

CHICAGO – Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance C. Cole has appointed Todd C. Smith as the new Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Chicago Field Division. SAC Smith succeeds Shane R. Catone, who was appointed by DEA Administrator Cole as the Associate Chief of Operations (ACO) for the...

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Thomas Zachary Breeding, 41, of Panama City, FL, was sentenced to a total of 77 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to retaliation against a federal informant, transmission of threatening communications in interstate commerce, and supervised release violations. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin...

SPOKANE, Wash. –Dr. Duncan Lahtinen, a licensed physician, has paid $120,000.00 in penalties to resolve allegations that he wrote prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked legitimate medical purposes or were outside the usual course of his professional practice. Between 2017 and 2025, Dr. Lahtinen issued over 1,400 prescriptions for controlled...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MODESTE ADODO, 29, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 60 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for trafficking narcotics. According to court documents and...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Dominik Israel Lopez, 24, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced on November 24, 2025, by United States District Judge Krissa Lanham to 108 months of prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Lopez pleaded guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl, with death resulting. In March 2020...

Washington, DC – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. This effort underscores DEA's unwavering commitment...

YAKIMA, Wash. – On November 14, 2025, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington returned an Indictment charging Anna Elperin, age 42, with 26 felony counts relating to prescriptions for controlled substances and Department of Transportation commercial driver’s licenses physical examinations Elperin wrote and performed at her...

SAN FRANCISCO – United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) San Francisco Division Special Agent in Charge Bob Beris, DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino, along with our law enforcement partners Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector...

PENSACOLA, FLA – Alexandra M. Christensen, 31, Lindsay N. McCray (also known as Lindsay Rogers), 42, Heather T. Bradley (also known as Heather Thomas), 37, and Jennifer E. Purves, 39, all of Pensacola, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court to charges in connection with the unlawful diversion of controlled substances...