United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LOS ANGELES – A Palmdale man already facing one charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death has been charged by federal grand jury indictment with an additional count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death related to the death of a Palmdale man in August, the Justice Department announced...

LOS ANGELES – A Santa Clarita man has been arraigned on an indictment alleging he distributed protonitazene – a novel synthetic opioid that is up to three times more powerful than fentanyl – which resulted in a victim’s fatal overdose this spring, the Justice Department announced today. Benjamin Anthony Collins...

LOS ANGELES – A licensed physician and an alleged San Fernando Valley drug dealer were arrested today in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry, who suffered a fatal ketamine overdose in October 2023. In total, five defendants, including two doctors, have been charged in this matter, according to...

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...

LOS ANGELES – A South Bay man, who in May 2020 distributed fentanyl-laced pills to a 15-year-old boy and mocked the victim online as he was dying of an overdose, was sentenced today to 240 months in federal prison. Alexander Declan Bell Wilson, 23, of Rolling Hills, was sentenced by...

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...

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...

RIVERSIDE, California – Inland Empire law enforcement officials today rolled out a public outreach education campaign to address the ongoing fentanyl crisis and the skyrocketing number of fentanyl poisonings. Anchored by a new public service announcement titled “ Death in Disguise” that expands on the DEA-led “One Pill Can Kill”...