United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The DEA announced the sentencing of Dale Thomas Ratcliffe, a former Doctor of Osteopathy, to 5 years’ probation and the surrender of his medical license, after Ratcliffe was indicted on multiple federal charges earlier this year. Ratcliffe plead guilty to conspiracy to furnish false information after the...

MAY 11 - MIAMI, Fla. - Joshua J. Kelly, aka “Ustous,” 32, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., was charged by criminal complaint today with one count of conspiracy to distribute in narcotics, in and one count of conspiracy to launder money. Kelly becomes the fourth defendant in separate but related cases...

PHOENIX - The DEA’s Phoenix Field Division has finished recording the total amount of drugs collected from those agencies who participated in Saturday’s National Take Back event. Once again, Arizonans turned out in significant numbers and disposed of 9,576.35 pounds, over four tons, of prescription drugs. The total for this...

MAY 02 - MIAMI, Fla. - Eight members and associates of La Organizacion de Narcotraficantes (La ONU) were named today in an unsealed indictment charging them with six murders and multiple counts of racketeering, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. Adolphus P. Wright, the Special Agent in Charge of the Miami...

PHOENIX - DEA announced the 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place April 29th from 10 am-2 pm local time. As with the previous Take-Back events, sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can anonymously return their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe...

APR 05 - BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. - On April 5, 2017, Dr. Peter Katz, a licensed physician practicing in Boynton Beach, Florida, was arrested at his residence in Boynton Beach, on state charges of willingly and unlawfully writing a prescription for hydrocodone/acetaminophen, a Schedule II controlled substance for which there...

PHOENIX - The DEA is alerting all citizens to drug overdose deaths tied to counterfeit pills laced with powerful opioid fentanyl. Manufactured by Mexican drug trafficking (DTOs) and sold as oxycodone on the illicit drug market, fentanyl is an opioid 100 times stronger than morphine. These counterfeit pills are smuggled...

WESTON, Fla. - Hugo Margenat-Castro, 25, of Orlando, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, 100 grams or more of heroin and distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the death of another. He faces a mandatory minimum term of 20 years and up to life, in...

WESTON, Fla. - Eric C. Falkowski, 35, from Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Falkowski previously pleaded guilty...

ORMAND BEACH, Florida - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) Central Florida Region Office arrested Howard Perch near his residence in Ormond Beach, Florida, on charges of obtaining controlled substances by fraud and providing false info to obtain them. Perch is the Executive Director of Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach, Florida...