United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PORTLAND, Ore.—An Arizona woman is facing federal charges after she was caught trafficking approximately 45,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and several additional pounds of bulk heroin on Interstate 5 near Salem, Oregon. Nancy Garcia, 47, of Yuma County, Arizona, has been charged by criminal complaint with possessing with intent...

DENVER – 57-year-old Bruce Holder of Grand Junction, CO has been sentenced to life in federal prison. In April 2021, Holder was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and counterfeit substances, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of a counterfeit substance, following an 11-day trial...

SEATTLE – A Renton, Washington resident who continued to deal drugs and possess firearms after many of his coconspirators were arrested and charged federally, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison. Gerson Alberto Flores-Rivera, 28, pleaded guilty in May 2022 to distribution of...

DENVER –The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division seized over 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022. The division, which covers the states of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, seized nearly two million fentanyl pills and more than 150 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2022. Last month, DEA...

ANCHORAGE– The Drug Enforcement Administration is participating in an advertising campaign launched by the Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative. The Save a Life campaign is designed to help communities partner with law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking and to help prevent drug overdoses in Alaska...

SEATTLE – A 50-year-old Washington State man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to seven years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl pills, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Preston Joseph Smith was arrested in December 2021 in Port Angeles, Washington on allegations he...

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--Dennen Trey George Fitterer-Usher, 24, of Spokane Valley, Washington, was sentenced this week to more than 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court records, in 2021, Fitterer-Usher met...

BUTTE, Mont. — A multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which brought massive quantities of methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and heroin to Butte for redistribution, has resulted in the federal convictions of 22 people. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich hosted a press...

DENVER –Today the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division hosted its first Family Summit in support of those who have lost loved ones to the drug poisoning and overdose epidemic. This is the first undertaking of its kind for the division, building off the momentum of this summer’s Inaugural Family...

SEATTLE– A 26-year-old Kent, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 11 years in prison for his role as a drug trafficker and debt collector for a cartel-connected drug distribution ring, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jorge Mondragon pleaded guilty in July 2022 to conspiracy...