DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
76 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

China-Based Chemical Manufacturing Companies and Employees Indicted for Alleged Fentanyl Manufacturing and Distribution

WASHINGTON – Eight China-based chemical companies and eight employees have been charged in the Middle District of Florida with federal crimes including attempted distribution of synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl. Five of the indictments also charge defendants with money laundering. “Today, the Justice Department...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Recognizes National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will recognize National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day on Wednesday, August 21 with extended DEA Museum hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Faces of Fentanyl exhibit is one of the museum’s featured exhibits, and commemorates the lives lost to fentanyl. More...
PRESS RELEASE

Fentanyl Dealer Implicated in Two Fatal ODs Sentenced to 22+ Years in Prison

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Indictment Alleges Alliance Between Sinaloa Cartel and Money Launderers Linked to Chinese Underground Banking

Washington - The Justice Department today announced a 10-count superseding indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds. During the conspiracy, more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Releases 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment

WASHINGTON – Today, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram announced the release of the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), DEA’s comprehensive strategic assessment of illicit drug threats and trafficking trends endangering the United States. For more than a decade, DEA’s NDTA has been a trusted resource for law enforcement agencies, policy...
PRESS RELEASE

Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

DALLAS, TX - A Dallas fentanyl trafficker who admitted to dealing more than 142,000 counterfeit pills was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison. Terrill Antwan Ray, 48, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced Monday by...
PRESS RELEASE

Mom Pleads Guilty to Providing Fentanyl That Killed Her Sons’ Father

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Year in Review: DEA Innovates to Fight Fentanyl

WASHINGTON – In 2023, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration marked its 50th anniversary as the only federal agency dedicated to fighting deadly drugs and drug-related violence. This milestone celebrated a half century of dedication to fighting drug trafficking in the United States and around the world, which threatens the public...
PRESS RELEASE

Major Supplier and Two Others Involved in the Carrollton / Flower Mound Juvenile Overdose Case Sentenced

DALLAS, TX - Three defendants were sentenced today to a combined 35 years in federal prison for their roles in the drug conspiracy that claimed the lives of three teenagers in North Texas. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 23, Robert Alexander Gaitan, 20, and Rafael Soliz, Jr., 23, were indicted in a...
PRESS RELEASE

13 Additional Defendants Charged in Fentanyl Distribution Network that Spanned from California to D.C.

WASHINGTON – Federal and local law enforcement announced the arrests of 11 more alleged members of a fentanyl drug distribution network responsible for bringing hundreds of thousands of fake Oxycodone (M30) pills from California to D.C. Today's announcement was made by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves...