DEA Archived Press Releases

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

DEA Operation Last Mile Tracks Down Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartel Associates Operating within the United States

SAN DIEGO – Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a year-long national operation, “Operation Last Mile,” targeting operatives, associates, and distributors affiliated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels responsible for the last mile of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution on our streets and on social media. DEA’s...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Operation Last Mile Tracks Down Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartel Associates Operating within the United States

SEATTLE, Wash.– Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a year-long national operation, “Operation Last Mile,” targeting operatives, associates, and distributors affiliated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels responsible for the last mile of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution on our streets and on social media. DEA’s top...
PRESS RELEASE

Four of Chapo’s Sons Indicted for Large-Scale Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering and Violent Crimes as Alleged Leaders of Sinaloa Cartel

SAN DIEGO – Four sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the imprisoned former Sinaloa Cartel leader known as El Chapo, were indicted by a federal grand jury for large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering and violent crimes in connection with their assumption of cartel leadership following their father’s arrest and extradition to...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Ring Tied to Aryan Prison Gang Indicted With 24 Federal Arrests

TACOMA, Wash. – Twenty-seven people were indicted by a grand jury for drug trafficking, and many of those in the indictment are tied to the “Aryan Family,” a white supremacist prison gang, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Twenty-four of the defendants have been arrested over the last five days in...
PRESS RELEASE

Ocean Beach Drug Dealer Sentenced to More Than 15 Years for His Role in Fatal Overdose

SAN DIEGO - Alexander Michael Randise of Ocean Beach was sentenced today in federal court to 188 months in prison for distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the fatal overdose of 30-year-old Tyber Joseph Lustig. According to his plea agreement, Randise admitted providing four counterfeit M-30 pills laced with fentanyl...
PRESS RELEASE

Flight Attendant Pleads Guilty to Possessing Fentanyl with the Intent to Distribute

SAN DIEGO - Terese L. White, a flight attendant residing in Dallas, Texas, has pleaded guilty in federal court to a drug-trafficking charge, admitting that she used her privileges as a flight attendant to bypass the more robust security screening process at San Diego International Airport in order to smuggle...
PRESS RELEASE

Doctor and Office Manager Indicted in Scheme to Defraud Medicare, Manufacture and Distribute Fentanyl

SAN DIEGO - Dr. David J. Smith, a pain management physician, and his office manager, Julia Ann Oertle, are charged in a federal grand-jury indictment with perpetuating a long-running scheme to commit healthcare fraud and to manufacture and distribute adulterated fentanyl. Smith made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA, FBI, and Seattle Police Seize 2 RVs Packed with Meth and Fentanyl

SEATTLE – Three significant drug trafficking groups responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills are facing federal charges tonight. Federal investigators and local law enforcement partners seized two RVs packed with meth and fake pills after they were driven from California...
PRESS RELEASE

Thirteen Defendants Charged in Imperial Valley Takedown of Drug Trafficking Network

SAN DIEGO – An indictment was unsealed in federal court today charging 10 alleged members of an Imperial Valley-based methamphetamine distribution network with drug trafficking and money laundering offenses. In addition, three more related defendants were charged today via complaint with drug trafficking offenses. In a coordinated multi-state takedown that...
PRESS RELEASE

Takedown of Lane County Drug Trafficking Cell

EUGENE, Ore.—On September 15, 2021, a coordinated law enforcement operation targeting the leader and several associates of a Lane County drug trafficking cell led to the seizure of 384 pounds of methamphetamine, the largest single methamphetamine seizure in Oregon State history and valued at over a million dollars. The operation...