WASHINGTON – Just days into his new role, DEA Administrator Terrance Cole met with a law enforcement delegation from Italy, signifying the agency’s renewed focus on working with foreign law enforcement to meet the evolving threats of the global drug crisis. On July 24, DEA Administrator Cole, DEA Deputy Chief...

Tampa, Fla. – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Vicente Lopez Mero (67, Ecuador) to 19 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Lopez Mero pleaded guilty on...

LOS ANGELES – A commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) foreign terrorist organization and his associate have been charged in a six-count superseding indictment alleging they are senior members of a large cocaine-manufacturing ring that trades cocaine to buy firearms to engage in terrorist...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced the release of the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), DEA’s comprehensive review of the threats posed to the United States by deadly illicit drugs and the violent domestic and international drug trafficking organizations responsible for producing and trafficking the drugs...

An India-based chemical manufacturing company and three high-level employees were charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., today related to illegally importing precursor chemicals used to make illicit fentanyl. According to the indictment, Vasudha Pharma Chem Limited (VPC), VPC Chief Global Business Officer Tanweer Ahmed Mohamed Hussain Parkar, 63, of...

EL PASO, Texas – A high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel was extradited from Mexico to El Paso, indicted for criminal charges related to his alleged federal racketeering, narcotics, money laundering, firearms, and continuing criminal enterprise offenses. According to court documents, Daniel Franco Lopez aka “Micha” aka “Neon” aka “Fer,”...

DENVER – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) – in conjunction with federal and local partners – executed a federal search warrant on 6600 Federal Boulevard in Adams County, Colorado just before 5 a.m. MT today. Based on months-long investigative work, it was determined this makeshift nightclub...