United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX - DEA announced the 15th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place April 28th from 10 am-2 pm local time. Sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can anonymously return their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal. (DEA cannot accept liquids, needles...

PHOENIX - The DEA is alerting all law enforcement, first responders and citizens to the confirmed overdose fatality attributed to the very potent and highly dangerous drug, carfentanil. A review of overdose investigation records provided to DEA’s Heroin Enforcement Action (HEAT) revealed the incident occurred in late 2017. Carfentanil is...

SAN DIEGO - Documented Lakeside gang member Uriah Odish was indicted by a federal grand jury for selling fentanyl that led to the death of a 25-year-old La Mesa woman, identified in court documents only as T.H., who was found dead in her home on January 23. “By holding dealers...

SAN DIEGO - Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficker Jesus Manuel Salazar-Nunez was sentenced to 135 months in prison today and five years of supervised release for his role in a drug trafficking cell responsible for shipping methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin from Mexico for importation into San Diego. According to court records...

TUCSON, Ariz. - The DEA announced today, along with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the grand jury indictment of Dr. David Alan Ruben, a medical doctor and board certified psychiatrist. Dr. Ruben was indicted on a total of 26 felony charges, including Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices and Administration of Narcotic...

SAN DIEGO - April 8 -14, 2018 is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week - a time for law enforcement, prosecutorial agencies, victim advocates and community members to come together and support victims of crime. Enforcing victim’s rights protects victims, enhances public safety and fosters public confidence in our criminal justice...

PHOENIX - The DEA announces the conviction of Thomas Mario Costanzo, a.k.a. Morpheus Titania, of Mesa, Arizona, by a federal jury on March 28, 2018, on five counts of money laundering in Phoenix. This long term investigation resulted in one of the first convictions of a money launderer in Arizona...

SAN DIEGO - In response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ call for a 45-day surge in opioid-related enforcement, Drug Enforcement (DEA) investigations have led to the arrest of multiple defendants in relation to deadly opioids. The most significant opioid-related cases since the onset of the surge on January 29 include...

SAN DIEGO - Egisto Salerno, a medical doctor, who owns and operates a medical office on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego, and seven others have been arrested on federal charges stemming from their alleged roles in a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute hydrocodone as part of...

SAN DIEGO - Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Damaso Lopez-Serrano, aka “Mini Lic,” pled guilty in federal court today following his self-surrender to United States law enforcement authorities at the Calexico West Port of Entry on July 27, 2017. Lopez-Serrano, 29, is believed to be the highest-ranking Mexican cartel leader ever...