DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
1018 Results - Showing 361 to 370
PRESS RELEASE

Colombian Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Trafficking Charges for His Role in International Cocaine Importation Conspiracy

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Gustavo Adolfo Pareja, 26, of Cali, Colombia, pled guilty today to conspiracy to import 50 kilograms of cocaine for distribution in the United States. Pareja was extradited by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida last month as a result of an extensive...
PRESS RELEASE

44 Charged Following 18 Month Investigation Into Drug Trafficking Organization

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. – A total of 15 defendants have been indicted on federal drug-trafficking charges and an additional 29 co-conspirators face state drug-trafficking charges as a result of a multi-agency effort to bring down an organized drug trafficking operation in North Florida. Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for...
PRESS RELEASE

Two South Florida Police Officers Charged with Federal Drug Trafficking Crime

MIAMI - Miami-Dade County Police Officers Roderick Michael Flowers, 30, and Keith Maurice Edwards Jr., 28, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine. It also charges Manuel Carlos Hernandez, 23, with conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Hernandez, Durojaiye Obafemi Monsuru Lawal, 24, and Trevanti McLeod, 23, all from South...
PRESS RELEASE

A Record Amount of Unwanted Medications Collected During National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

MIAMI – DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day brought in nearly a million pounds of unused, expired, and unwanted medications across the country, the largest amount ever collected in the program’s ten years. Americans once again showed their dedication to remove prescription pills from their homes to prevent addiction...
PRESS RELEASE

Methamphetamine Distributors Sentenced to Federal Prison

Jacksonville, Fla. - Nicholas Paul Mattox (50, Jacksonville) was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distribution of 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, and Keith Wallace Williams (61, Middleburg) to 5 years in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Announces Launch of Project Safeguard

MIAMI – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea today announced that the DEA will direct resources to help reduce violent crime in communities throughout the country. Under this initiative, called Project Safeguard, DEA will identify and prioritize ongoing drug trafficking investigations with a nexus to violent crime...
PRESS RELEASE

Multi-Agency Operation Nets more than 70 arrests in Highlands County

SEBRING, Fla . – On September 30, 2010, a multi-agency federal, state, and local task force conducted an operation in which more than 70 people were arrested on drug trafficking and gun marcharges. For more than a year, federal, state, and local law enforcement worked on a massive operation dubbed...
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican national sentenced to over 20 years in prison for setting fire to drug smuggling vessel during U.S. Coast Guard interdiction

TAMPA, Fla. - Jesus Soto-Martinez (41, Michoacan, Mexico) was sentenced to 21 years and 3 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, forcibly interfering...
PRESS RELEASE

Fort Myers Drug Trafficker Convicted by Federal Jury

FORT MYERS, Fla. - A federal jury has found Edgar Vazquez (35, Fort Myers) guilty of possessing with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Vazquez faces a minimum mandatory term of 5 years, and up to 40 years, in federal prison. Vazquez had been indicted on...
PRESS RELEASE

Eight Robles Park gang members and associates indicted for drug trafficking violations

TAMPA, Fla. - An indictment charging eight members of a drug trafficking organization with offenses related to the distribution of cocaine and heroin was unsealed today. (See chart for details). According to court records, this investigation targeted illegal drug traffickers operating an open-air drug market in the Robles Park Housing...