United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO - A long-term investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has led to one of the nation’s largest seizures of the deadly synthetic opiate fentanyl and a federal indictment against three alleged traffickers. “The opioid crisis the country is facing right now makes this indictment all the more...

June 08 , 2017 Contact: Public Information Officer (215) 852-8740 PHILADELPHIA - Gary Tuggle, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA Philadelphia Field Division announced that 4,642 drug-related overdose deaths were reported by coroners and medical examiners in Pennsylvania for 2016. This number represents a 37 percent increase in overdose deaths from...

May 02 , 2017 Contact: Public Information Officer (215) 852-8740 PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Tuggle of DEA’s Philadelphia Field Division announced today that 42,950.43 pounds of prescription drugs were collected across Pennsylvania and Delaware by DEA and its partner agencies during the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event this...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Field Division announced today that the DEA will sponsor a play entitled Off-Script for the students of Cornell High School in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania as part of the DEA’s ongoing 360 Strategy to address prescription opioid and...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Tuggle of the DEA Philadelphia Field Division announced today that DEA will train members of the Hermitage Police Department in Mercer County on the use of Naloxone that was purchased for them through funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol (DDAP). In 2015...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he fraudulently and illegally wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets for patients with no medical necessity, one of whom was a sex partner...

SAN DIEGO - Roberto Ponce-Rocha was extradited from Colombia on November 17, 2016, where he had been arrested for charges arising out of his leadership role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving the transportation of large-scale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States. As part of the...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Division announced today that 39,418.87 pounds of prescription drugs were collected across Pennsylvania and Delaware during DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event this past Saturday, October 22nd. A specific breakdown of amounts collected by regions...

SAN DIEGO - The final tally is in from the 12th National Prescription Take-Back Day which took place Saturday, October 22, and DEA and its partners took back nearly 8,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 39 locations in San Diego County and four in Imperial County. Over the course of...