DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Sinaloa drug cartel distributor sentenced to 180 months in prison

LOS ANGELES – The culmination of a four-year investigation resulted in a member of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel being sentenced on Dec. 6, 2019 to 180 months in federal prison for narcotics and weapons violations. Jesus Raul Salazar-Espinoza a.k.a. “Pedro,” 51, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced by United States District...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Los Angeles issues warning over counterfeit prescription pills from Mexico

LOS ANGELES – The Drug Enforcement Administration is alerting the public of dangerous counterfeit pills killing Americans. Mexican drug cartels are manufacturing mass quantities of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that is lethal in minute doses, for distribution throughout North America. Based on a sampling of...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA issues warning over counterfeit prescription pills from Mexico

PHOENIX – The Drug Enforcement Administration is alerting the public of dangerous counterfeit pills killing Americans. Mexican drug cartels are manufacturing mass quantities of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that is lethal in minute doses, for distribution throughout North America. Based on a sampling of tablets...
PRESS RELEASE

Over six tons of prescription drugs and vaping devices collected in DEA Take Back

PHOENIX – The DEA’s Phoenix Division has finished totaling the amount of drugs collected from those agencies who participated in the October 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Arizonans turned out in massive numbers and disposed of 12,371.58 pounds, over six tons, of prescription drugs and vaping products. This...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA and Local Partners Host 18th National Drug Takeback on October 26th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

LOS ANGELES – Over the course of 17 prior events, the National Drug Take Back Day Initiative continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medications from the nation’s homes, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors, including children and teens. In...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Arizona announces 18th National Prescription Drug Take Back

PHOENIX – DEA officials in Arizona announce the 18th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place October 26th, from 10 am-2 pm local time. Sites will be set up throughout communities statewide so local residents can anonymously return their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal. New to...
PRESS RELEASE

The DEA deploys “360 Strategy” in Northern Arizona’s Yavapai-Apache Nation to address heroin, prescription drug abuse and violent crime in the area

PHOENIX – The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined with the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Northern Arizona to deploy DEA’s 360 strategy in the tribal nation and surrounding rural area. The DEA 360 program was developed by DEA in 2015 to address the heroin and the opioid drug crisis across the nation...
PRESS RELEASE

Phoenix mother indicted, accused of using 13-year-old daughter to hide cocaine

PHOENIX - The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Phoenix Division and the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced the indictment of Rufina Lopez Covarruvia by a State Grand Jury for allegedly using her 13-year-old daughter to try and hide cocaine from officers during a traffic stop. Covarruvia is charged with multiple felony...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal grand jury charges three men for distributing fentanyl-laced pills that caused death of rapper Mac Miller

LOS ANGELES – Three men were charged in a federal grand jury indictment that alleges they distributed narcotics, including counterfeit pharmaceutical pills, containing fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of hip-hop artist Mac Miller. Cameron James Pettit, 28, of West Hollywood; Stephen Andrew Walter, 46, of Westwood; and Ryan...
PRESS RELEASE

Hollywood Hills man arrested on federal charges of selling fentanyl-laced pills to Rapper Mac Miller two days before his overdose death

LOS ANGELES – A Hollywood Hills resident was arrested this morning on federal charges alleging that he sold counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs containing fentanyl to Mac Miller two days before the hip-hop artist died of a drug overdose. Cameron James Pettit, 23, was arrested this morning by special agents with the...