United States Drug Enforcement Administration

COLUMBIA, S.C.— Norris L. Bond, 42, of Columbia, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine and possessing a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. Evidence presented to the court...

SAN DIEGO – Approximately 50,000 fake pills containing fentanyl were seized in a single enforcement operation in San Diego on June 28, 2022. Investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Narcotic Task Force (NTF) and the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) worked together to prevent the fake pills from being distributed...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jose Velasquez, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced yesterday to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release for drug trafficking, money laundering, and illegal reentry, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge...

SAN DIEGO – Cole Thomas Salazar pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 24-year-old woman who was found inside her Vista apartment on November 3, 2020. According to his plea agreement, Salazar used an online...

SAN DIEGO – A two-year investigation has led to the indictment of 26 defendants for international drug smuggling, drug trafficking, and related conspiracy offenses. One of the defendants, Raul Barajas-Padilla, appeared in federal court yesterday for an initial appearance on the indictment. So far, 17 defendants have been arrested. Efforts...

BRUNSWICK, GA: Two men from Canada and the United Kingdom have been indicted in the Southern District of Georgia on federal charges alleging an international operation used the Dark Web to distribute illegal drugs in the United States, with some of those drugs resulting in the deaths of two U.S...

SAN DIEGO – Drug dealer Saul Caro pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he sold the fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a thirty-five-year-old San Diego resident, identified in court records as M.S. According to his plea agreement, on April 11, 2021, Caro and the victim exchanged...

SAN DIEGO – Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr., a former U.S. Marine with dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, was sentenced in federal court to 195 months in prison for leading an international organization that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States. Dominguez had previously...

SAN DIEGO – On April 30, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their support for DEA’s annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by dropping off more than 720,000 pounds of unneeded medications at 5,144 collection sites. Since 2010, DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has collected nearly 16...

FLORENCE, S.C. – Darryl Lamont McKenith, 33, of Aynor, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Evidence presented to the court showed that McKenith was involved in a multi-year conspiracy to distribute...