DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Operators of Three Texas Pharmacies and Two Pain Clinics Arrested for Illegally Dispensing Nearly Four Million Opioid Pills

WASHINGTON – Three Houston-area pharmacists, a doctor, and a pharmacy technician have been arrested for allegedly running three pharmacies and two clinics as “pill mills;” distributing hydrocodone, oxycodone, and other controlled drugs without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, since January 2018, Chrisco Pharmacy (Chrisco), Keystone Pharmacy (Keystone)...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Reveals Criminal Drug Networks Are Flooding the U.S. with Deadly Fentanyl

NEWARK, N.J. – As U.S. overdose deaths reach a devastating new height, claiming a new victim every five minutes, the Drug Enforcement Administration has revealed a direct link between fentanyl-related overdose deaths and criminal drug networks in Mexico. These groups are harnessing social media platforms to bring drugs laced with...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Reveals Criminal Drug Networks Are Flooding the U.S. with Deadly Fentanyl

Washington, D.C. - As U.S. overdose deaths reach a devastating new height, claiming a new victim every five minutes, the Drug Enforcement Administration has revealed a direct link between fentanyl-related overdose deaths and criminal drug networks in Mexico. These groups are harnessing social media platforms to bring drugs laced with...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Long Island Doctor Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Causing the Overdose Deaths of Two patients and Illegally Distributing Oxycodone

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Michael Belfiore, a former medical doctor, was sentenced by United States Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco to 23 years in prison for the illegal distribution of oxycodone causing the deaths of two patients and the illegal distribution of...
PRESS RELEASE

Pain Clinic Owners Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Opioid Prescribing

MILWAUKEE - John G. McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Wisconsin, and Acting United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced that on Dec. 10, 2021, Lisa Hofschulz, 61, formerly a licensed nurse practitioner in the state of Wisconsin, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison...
PRESS RELEASE

Nixa Physician Pleads Guilty to Making a False Statement Related to Healthcare and Conspiracy

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Nixa, Missouri, physician pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to making a false statement to Medicare to obtain insurance coverage for a fentanyl prescription and to conspiring with others to use his DEA registration number to issue Schedule II controlled substances to patients in his absence...
PRESS RELEASE

Naples Doctor Who Operated a Pill Mill Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison

FORT MYERS, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Gerald Michael Abraham, 76, of Naples, Florida. to three years in federal prison for dispensing controlled substances (oxycodone and amphetamine) for no legitimate medical purpose. The court also ordered Abraham to forfeit the following items to the United...
PRESS RELEASE

International Drug Trafficking Organization Member Sentenced for Trafficking Over a Thousand Kilograms of Cocaine

RICHMOND, Va. – A Guatemalan national was sentenced today to 172 months in prison for his role as a maritime transportation manager in a large-scale Guatemalan drug trafficking organization (DTO). According to court documents, beginning in 2016, Amilcar Chavez-Barrera, 42, conspired to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine for distribution...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA, HIDTA, and 18th Judicial District Announce Takedown of Colorado Based Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Drug Trafficking Organization

DENVER – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Denver Field Division, alongside Rocky Mountain HIDTA and the 18th Judicial District, announced the indictment of 19 individuals and arrest of 10 individuals as a part of an investigation into a poly-drug trafficking organization operating in the greater Denver area of Colorado. In...
PRESS RELEASE

UT Southwestern to Pay $4.5 Million to Resolve Alleged Controlled Substance Act Violations That Permitted Drug Diversion by Staff

Dallas - The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has agreed to pay $4.5 million to resolve allegations that its violations of the Controlled Substances Act allowed hospital staff to divert fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from the hospital, announced DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. The...