United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAVANNAH, GA - Ten people have been charged in a federal indictment alleging a conspiracy to obtain and sell large amounts of opioids through fraudulent prescriptions. The indictment charges eight men and two women with taking part in a scheme to use forged and fraudulent prescriptions to obtain large amounts...

Washington, D.C. – As part of a long-standing tradition, the DEA Washington Division will take the month of February to honor the contributions and history of our African American community. National African American History Month is a time to celebrate our rich diversity. It is also a time to reflect...

ROANOKE, Va. -- Ana Bella Sanchez-Rios, the former owner and operator of a Martinsville business used to launder more than $4.3 million in profits for an international drug cartel, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to 96 months in federal prison. Sanchez-Rios laundered the funds for the Jalisco...

SAVANNAH, GA - A Garden City, Ga., clinic owner and CEO has been indicted for operating a clinic that provided a base from which a notorious “pill mill” doctor dispensed massive amounts of controlled substances. In a five-count indictment returned by a U.S. District Court grand jury, Jamesetta Whipple-Duncan, 58...

Harrisonburg, Va. – Two of the five defendants charged as part of a conspiracy that trafficked heroin from Maryland to Virginia leading to at least one fatal and one non-fatal overdose were sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Drug...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to unlawfully distributing thousands of prescription opioid pills in exchange for over half a million dollars through the “dark web.” According to court documents, between 2012 and 2020, Daren James Reid, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, used the dark web to distribute...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The mastermind behind an extensive drug trafficking ring entered a guilty plea this week, and four other defendants either entered pleas or were sentenced recently to substantial terms in prison for distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Newport News and North Carolina. “This...

ROANOKE, Va. – Bryan Wade Lewis, a former pharmacist at Home Choice Partners in Roanoke, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court for tampering with a consumer product, hydromorphone, that affected interstate commerce. Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Washington Division and Acting United States Attorney Daniel...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Seabrook, New Hampshire man pleaded guilty today to his role in a nationwide conspiracy to distribute synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as “spice” or “K2.” According to court documents, William Walsh, 56, operated two shops in Seabrook—“Up N Smoke” and “The Smoking Monkey”—from which he sold retail...

WILMINGTON , N.C. – Ashley Shackelford, 35, of Duplin County, was sentenced yesterday to 90 months imprisonment for: (1) Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute and Distribute 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing Methamphetamine; and (2) Possess with the Intent to Distribute of 500 grams of...