United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Baltimore, Maryland – Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, announced that their agencies have formed the Maryland Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Task Force (“MFFOTF”). The alarming rate of overdoses in Maryland has...

DALLAS, TX - A fentanyl dealer who admitted he was involved in at least three overdoses, two of them fatal, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 23 years in federal prison. Rhett Barclay, 23, was indicted in September 2023 and pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with intent to...

Dallas, TX - An Albuquerque mother who concealed a deadly dose of fentanyl inside her children’s luggage pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal drug crime. Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, was indicted in November 2022. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of fentanyl before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. In...

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...

WASHINGTON, DC – On October 6, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division hosted their 2nd Family Summit in support of those who have lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The Summit was very emotional and educational to all those who attended...

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby approved the United States’ consent decree with John A. Beckman, a Cumberland, Maryland based pharmacist, and Beckman’s Greene Street Pharmacy, Inc. (“Beckman’s Pharmacy”), resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Beckman and Beckman’s Pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in...

Dallas, TX - Two distributors who supplied the fentanyl that killed a 15-year-old girl in Carrollton last week have been federally charged, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas. The victim, is the fourth child to die of a fentanyl overdose in the area since September...

DALLAS, TX – A Dallas man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for drug trafficking violations related to a 2021 overdose death, announced Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez today. Robel Habtemariam, 20, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to manufacture and deliver fentanyl and was...

Baltimore, MD – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced NFL gang leader Gregory Butler, a/k/a “Gotti,” “Sags,” and “Little Dick,” age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to 30 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise related to...

DALLAS, TEXAS - A top source of supply in the Carrollton fentanyl overdoses case has been charged with a federal drug crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, was charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule II controlled...