United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DENVER — The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that People’s Pharmacy, Inc. and its owner and pharmacist-in-charge, Mahnaz Abharian, have agreed to resolve allegations that the pharmacy unlawfully dispensed controlled substances, including dangerous opioids and drug combinations. People’s Pharmacy operated a pharmacy located in Lakewood...

WASHINGTON – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration released the final report of the Foreign Operations Review Team, which contains recommendations to improve the effectiveness and enhance the integrity of DEA’s foreign operations. In August 2021, DEA requested this comprehensive review, which was led by Jack Lawn, a former DEA Administrator...

Bozeman, Mont. – Rocky Mountain Division Diversion Investigator (DI) Aaron St. Peter was recently named “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” at the Montana Narcotic’s Officers Association (MNOA) Conference in Bozeman. DI St. Peter was nominated by a colleague from the Montana Department of Justice, Criminal Investigation Division (MT CID). The...

DENVER – Howard Weiss of Greenwood Village pleaded guilty on March 8, 2023 to distributing a controlled substance outside the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose, structuring financial transactions in a way to evade reporting requirements, and engaging in monetary transactions greater than $10,000 in...

DENVER – A federal jury found Thomas O’Hara II, age 56, of Colorado Springs, guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. According to facts presented at trial, on June 1, 2021, the Rocky Mountain Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the...

WASHINGTON - Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced proposed permanent rules for the prescribing of controlled medications via telemedicine, expanding patient access to critical therapies beyond the scheduled end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The public will be able to comment for 30 days on the proposed rules. The...

DENVER – 57-year-old Bruce Holder of Grand Junction, CO has been sentenced to life in federal prison. In April 2021, Holder was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and counterfeit substances, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of a counterfeit substance, following an 11-day trial...

DENVER –The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division seized over 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022. The division, which covers the states of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, seized nearly two million fentanyl pills and more than 150 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2022. Last month, DEA...

WASHINGTON – As 2022 comes to an end, the Drug Enforcement Administration is announcing the seizure of over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder this calendar year. The DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 379 million potentially deadly doses...

BUTTE, Mont. — A multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which brought massive quantities of methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and heroin to Butte for redistribution, has resulted in the federal convictions of 22 people. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich hosted a press...