United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI—Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division personnel recently hosted an Operation Engage South Florida meeting with community stakeholders at First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to stress the dangers of fentanyl—especially regarding children. Operation Engage South F lorida is an opportunity to keep fentanyl prevention, awareness, and education...

Norwalk, CT - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JOSE DE JESUS VEGA-CERVANTES, 45, a citizen of Mexico last residing in Norwalk, pleaded guilty yesterday in Bridgeport federal court to a fentanyl trafficking offense. According to court documents and statements made in...

Today, May 7, 2024 is National Fentanyl Awareness Day. This annual observance is held to bring needed attention and awareness to the threats from fentanyl and fake pills – and the lives lost to poisonings and overdoses. Fentanyl is the most significant drug threat the United States has faced in...

CONCORD – A Maine man was sentenced today in federal court in Concord for a conspiracy to distribute approximately 14 kilograms (30 pounds) of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Brian Strout, 46, of Turner, Maine, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty to 72 months in...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Southern District of Indiana announced that Michael Querry, 52, of South Bend, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to...

NEWARK, N.J. – A member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips gang today admitted his role in a racketeering conspiracy, Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz of the DEA New Jersey Field Division, and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Elijah Williams, aka “Lil Smith,” 24, pleaded guilty before U.S...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A federal jury convicted a California drug dealer late Friday for his connection to the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Fairbanks man. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Junior Gafatasi Tulali, 48, was the original source of fentanyl pills that were sold to a...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Cornelius Nelson , 34, of Elkhart, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading...

ALBUQUERQUE – The last of the eight defendants indicted following a joint law enforcement operation in Carlsbad last year pleaded guilty to federal drug offenses in federal court yesterday. Jesus Alonso Cerezo-Espidio , 51, of Carlsbad, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 5 grams and more of...

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”); and Darren B. McCormack, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of...