DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Colorado Breaks Record For Fentanyl Pill Seizures

DENVER – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) announces it has seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills – or “fake” pills – in Colorado, with one month remaining in the year. This breaks last year’s record-setting 2.61 million pills seized in the state. “It is an unfortunate...
PRESS RELEASE

Suspicious Travel Leads To DEA Seizure Of 670,000 Fake Pills In Colorado & New Mexico

COLORADO SPRINGS – An incoming tip based on the premise of “see something, say something” leads to the seizure of approximately 670,000 fentanyl pills in Colorado and New Mexico. Earlier this month, a tip out of Albuquerque led to the arrest of a man in Colorado Springs, suspected of transporting...
PRESS RELEASE

Utah Sets Record For Fentanyl Pill Seizures

SALT LAKE CITY - With less than six months remaining in 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) has already seized nearly 800,000 fentanyl pills in Utah - a new record. In operations between January 1 and June 30, 2024, more than 774,000 fentanyl pills were seized...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Seizes One-Quarter Of Utah's 2023 Fentanyl Pill Total… In Less Than Two Weeks

SALT LAKE CITY – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) seized approximately 170,000 fentanyl pills in Utah operations last month. In less than two weeks in June, 170,000 fentanyl pills were seized across the state. This represents 25.6% of the total fentanyl pill seizures in Utah in...
PRESS RELEASE

Heading into Summer, DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division on Record-Setting Fentanyl Pace

DENVER – As most schools are out and Summer 2024 is unofficially underway, DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division is on pace to eclipse fentanyl pill seizure records set just last year. “It is an unfortunate reality that seizures of fake fentanyl pills across our Division – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and...
PRESS RELEASE

Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Sentenced to 87 Months in Prison for Attempting to Distribute Methamphetamine and Receiving Bribes

SAN DIEG O - Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hector Hernandez, who admitted that he took bribes to smuggle methamphetamine and people across the U.S.-Mexico border while on duty, was sentenced in federal court today to 87-months in prison. Hernandez pleaded guilty in January, admitting that he agreed to use...
PRESS RELEASE

Leader of Sophisticated Sinaloa Cartel Money Laundering Organization Sentenced to 120 Months

SAN DIEG O - Luis Reinaldo Ramirez of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced in federal court today to 120 months in prison for his role as a leader in a transnational criminal organization that laundered $16.5 million dollars in narcotics proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel. Ramirez was also sentenced for his...
PRESS RELEASE

Guatemalan Leader of Multi-Ton Cocaine Trafficking Organization Sentenced to Almost 22 Years in Prison

SAN DIEGO -Josue Adan Lemus-Lara, aka “Fenix,” was sentenced in federal court today to 260 months in prison. His sentence follows his conviction after a week-long jury trial in November 2023 where he was convicted on all charges in a maritime cocaine trafficking conspiracy. During a multi-year wiretap investigation led...
PRESS RELEASE

Alleged Drug Trafficker Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan Extradited from Colombia

SAN DIEG O - Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato, an Ecuadorian national and alleged drug trafficker, made his first appearance in federal court today following his extradition to the United States from Colombia yesterday. At the hearing, Sanchez Farfan entered a not guilty plea. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara L...
PRESS RELEASE

La DEA lanza una Nueva Línea de Comunicación para Incentivar Información sobre un Narcotraficante Operando en Colorado

DENVER – El 17 de enero de 2024, la División de Campo de las Montañas Rocosas de la DEA de los Estados Unidos se unió al Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos para anunciar una oferta de recompensa de hasta $5 millones de dólares a cambio de información que...