DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
1301 Results - Showing 561 to 570
PRESS RELEASE

Prince George’s County Couple Linked to Two Overdoses Facing Federal Indictment for Fentanyl Distribution Conspiracy

GREENBELT, Md. – A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Andrew Joseph Trimmer, aka “D” and “Smoke”, age 32, and Alicia Marie Walls, aka “Porsha” and “Alicia Porsha,” age 28, both of Bowie, Maryland, on federal charges related to a fentanyl distribution conspiracy. The superseding indictment adds Walls...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Rolls Out Operation Engage in Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska – Today the United States Drug Enforcement Administration launched a new comprehensive law enforcement and prevention initiative aimed at reducing drug use, abuse, and overdose deaths. “Operation Engage” allows participating field divisions to focus on the biggest drug threat and resulting violence in their respective geographic areas. The...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Division Commemorates African American History Month

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Cartel Money Launderer Sentenced to 96 Months in Federal Prison

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Two Sentenced for Role in Maryland-to-Virginia Heroin Pipeline & Overdose Death

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Dark Web Trafficker Pleads Guilty to Distributing Opioids

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Large-scale, Spokane based fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficker sentenced to 180 months in federal prison

SPOKANE, Wash., - Today, Todd Earl Bridges, age 38, a resident of Spokane, Washington, was sentenced to 180 month term of imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine. United States District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson also ordered a 5 year term of...
PRESS RELEASE

5 Sinaloa Cartel Members plead guily to trafficking charges in Operation Cookout

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Roanoke pharmacist sentenced for tampering with powerful narcotics

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...
PRESS RELEASE

New Hampshire businessman pleads guilty to spice distribution & fatal overdose

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...