DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Head of Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Heriberto Lopez-Landeros, 44, of Avondale, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Landeros pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on August 5, 2024. Lopez-Landeros was the head of an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization responsible...
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

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

Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Angel Valencia-Avendano, 20, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, was sentenced last week by United States Chief District Judge G. Murray Snow to 84 months in prison. Valencia-Avendano pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl. On March 6, 2023, Valencia-Avendano was arrested and charged with fentanyl trafficking...
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

Drug Coordinator Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison

TUCSON, Ariz. – Enrique Heriberto Nunez-Tiznado, 45, of Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on February 22, 2024, by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash to 63 months in prison. Nunez-Tiznado pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, Heroin, Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, and Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments...
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

Malas Manas Transnational Criminal Organization Leadership Indicted on Charges of Human Smuggling and Drug Trafficking

Phoenix, Ariz. - On November 29, 2023, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned an 11-count indictment against Jorge Damian Roman-Figueroa, Luis Eduardo Roman-Flores, Manuel Jose Bernal, Joel Salazar-Ballesteros, and Jesus Armando Gonzalez-Villela, citizens of Mexico, for Conspiracy to Transport Aliens; Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments; Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana...
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...