DEA Archived Press Releases

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

U.S. Attorney’s Office and DEA Announce Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Task Force

Baltimore, Maryland – Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, announced that their agencies have formed the Maryland Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Task Force (“MFFOTF”). The alarming rate of overdoses in Maryland has...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Division Calls on the Community to Have Important Conversations on Dangers of Drugs and Fake Pills in Back-To-School Routines

Washington, DC – As schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia open their doors to students and teachers this month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division is urging the community to have important conversations about the consequences of drug experimentation and misuse as the new school year...
PRESS RELEASE

Fentanyl Dealer Implicated in Two Fatal ODs Sentenced to 22+ Years in Prison

DALLAS, TX - A fentanyl dealer who admitted he was involved in at least three overdoses, two of them fatal, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 23 years in federal prison. Rhett Barclay, 23, was indicted in September 2023 and pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with intent to...
PRESS RELEASE

Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

DALLAS, TX - A Dallas fentanyl trafficker who admitted to dealing more than 142,000 counterfeit pills was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison. Terrill Antwan Ray, 48, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced Monday by...
PRESS RELEASE

Mom Pleads Guilty to Providing Fentanyl That Killed Her Sons’ Father

Dallas, TX - An Albuquerque mother who concealed a deadly dose of fentanyl inside her children’s luggage pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal drug crime. Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, was indicted in November 2022. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of fentanyl before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. In...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Division Saw a Surge of Over 250% in Fentanyl Pill Seizures in 2023

Washington, DC – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, which covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) confiscated more than 639,000 fentanyl pills and 189 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2023. This amount represents more than a three-fold increase in the number of fake pills laced with...
PRESS RELEASE

District Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison For Distributing Fentanyl That Killed Two People

WASHINGTON – Sheldon Marbley, 44, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison on five felony counts for running a drug trafficking operation in the Southwest section of the District that caused the deaths of two people and caused serious bodily injury to another two people. In...
PRESS RELEASE

Major Supplier and Two Others Involved in the Carrollton / Flower Mound Juvenile Overdose Case Sentenced

DALLAS, TX - Three defendants were sentenced today to a combined 35 years in federal prison for their roles in the drug conspiracy that claimed the lives of three teenagers in North Texas. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 23, Robert Alexander Gaitan, 20, and Rafael Soliz, Jr., 23, were indicted in a...
PRESS RELEASE

Maryland U.S. Attorney Recognizes the Contributions of Law Enforcement Partners to Reduce Violent Crime in 2023

Baltimore, Maryland – At a press conference earlier today, U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron, thanked federal, state and local law enforcement partners in the fight against violent crime in Maryland. The teamwork, community-based partnerships, and strategic law enforcement initiatives helped make a difference in reducing homicides in Baltimore in 2023...
PRESS RELEASE

Indictment Charges Eight Men in an Interstate Fentanyl and Cocaine Conspiracy

WASHINGTON, D.C.– A 19-count indictment charges eight men from the metropolitan Washington D.C. area with participating in an interstate fentanyl and cocaine conspiracy believed responsible for distributing multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics in the region. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, DEA Special Agent in Charge...