United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is announcing three new rules to make permanent some temporary telemedicine flexibilities established during the COVID-19 public health emergency while also establishing new patient protections. In developing these rules, DEA has focused on the patient to ensure telemedicine is accessible for medical care...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

WASHINGTON – Operation OD Justice is a DEA initiative born out of a critical need to investigate drug poisoning and overdose deaths across the U.S. The initiative, launched in 2021 by DEA’s Los Angeles and San Diego Field Divisions, offers training, resources, and poisoning response coordinators to assist State and...

DENVER – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) announces it has seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills – or “fake” pills – in Colorado, with one month remaining in the year. This breaks last year’s record-setting 2.61 million pills seized in the state. “It is an unfortunate...

COLORADO SPRINGS – An incoming tip based on the premise of “see something, say something” leads to the seizure of approximately 670,000 fentanyl pills in Colorado and New Mexico. Earlier this month, a tip out of Albuquerque led to the arrest of a man in Colorado Springs, suspected of transporting...

Orlando, Fla. – Senior U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell has sentenced Jackie Jamal Hines, 47, of Melbourne, Fla., to 10 years in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine. Hines pleaded guilty on May 30, 2024. According to court documents, a traffic stop was...

From November 12-13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) participated in the tenth Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group in Shanghai, China. DOJ, DEA, and CBP officials met with law enforcement counterparts from China’s Ministry of...