United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FRESNO, Calif.) - Five cases against five men involved in separate marijuana cultivation operations in Fresno, Tulare and Kern Counties were resolved today in federal court, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - United States District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Uriel Ochoa-Espindola, 44, of Fresno, today to 17 and a half years in prison for his part in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B...

WASHINGTON - Today the United States Drug Enforcement (DEA) published a Final Rule to permanently control 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-(methylone) and a Notice of Intent to temporarily schedule three synthetic cannabinoids. The first of two notices published in the Federal Register this morning is a Final Rule permanently placing methylone, a synthetic stimulant...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Gennaro DiMatteo, 43, of South Lake Tahoe, California, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. DiMatteo had...

FRESNO, Calif. - Sergio Hector Aguilar, 46, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine while under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for a 1997 methamphetamine conviction, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Tony Le, 55, Minh Le, 36, and Cuong Le, 43, all of Sacramento were sentenced today by United States District Judge William B. Shubb for their involvement...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York announced that five defendants - Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, the former head of the Guinea-Bissau navy; Manuel Mamadi Mane; Saliu Sisse; Papis Djeme; and Tchamy Yala - arrived in...

WASHINGTON - CVS Pharmacy, Inc., and Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy, L.L.C., (collectively “CVS”), have agreed to pay $11,000,000 to the United States to settle civil penalty claims for record-keeping violations under the Controlled Substances Act and related regulations, announced Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and Sanford C...

FRESNO, Calif. - United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Jose Alcaraz Palacio, 33, of Torrance, today to five years and three months in federal prison, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced. According to court documents, on...

SAN FRANCISCO - United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of (“USAO-NDCA”) entered into a Non-Prosecution (“NPA”) today in which UPS agreed to forfeit $40 million in payments it has received from illicit online pharmacies and to implement a compliance program designed...