United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Washington, DC – As schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia open their doors to students and teachers this month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division is urging the community to have important conversations about the consequences of drug experimentation and misuse as the new school year...

Washington, DC – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, which covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) confiscated more than 639,000 fentanyl pills and 189 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2023. This amount represents more than a three-fold increase in the number of fake pills laced with...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A federal grand jury in Charlottesville, Virginia has indicted 17 individuals as part of a large-scale drug conspiracy that distributed more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in and around the Charlottesville region. The 37-count indictment, returned under seal August 29, 2023, partially unsealed...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a year-long national operation, “Operation Last Mile,” targeting operatives, associates, and distributors affiliated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels responsible for the last mile of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution on our streets and on social media. DEA’s top...

According to court documents, in March and April 2022, Calvin Ray Brown, 50, and a co-conspirator sold counterfeit pressed pills containing fentanyl to a Fairfax County Police Department confidential source and undercover detective on multiple occasions. When a search warrant was executed on Brown’s residence, officers recovered 999 counterfeit pressed...

RICHMOND, Va. – A Henrico County man was sentenced today to 110 months in prison for drug trafficking and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to court documents, Anthony Sylvester Gaines, 42, rented an extended stay hotel room in Henrico County where he was storing and preparing...

Charlottesville, Va.,– A Culpeper, Virginia man, who conspired with others, including his wife, to sell multiple kilograms of methamphetamine as well as thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, was sentenced this week to 9 years in federal prison. Fahid Rashid, 32, pled guilty in November 2022 to one count of...

Charlottesville, Va.- A federal grand jury in Charlottesville, Virginia returned an indictment yesterday charging a Greene County man with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine - among other charges - after officers found more than 10,000 fentanyl pills in his possession, as well...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax, Virginia man was sentenced today to 52 months for conspiring to distribute between 15 and 45 kilograms of pills containing methamphetamine via the darknet. According to court documents, from about May 2019 through December 2019, Tyler Pham, 39, conspired to distribute peach tablets advertised as...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man, who was the 25th defendant associated with Operation High Tide, was sentenced today for his role in trafficking firearms and selling heroin. According to court documents, in 2017, Shon E. Melton, 32, of Portsmouth, was attributed with trafficking 19 firearms, including a concealable short...