United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with federal and state prosecutors, announced today an unprecedented enforcement action spanning across the state of Arkansas in a combined effort to reverse the horrible effects on communities produced by violent drug traffickers. As part of this effort, dubbed Operation...

NEW YORK – Raymond P. Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division, along with Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Lajbar Lajaward Khan, aka “Haji Lajaward,” and Amal Said Said Alam Shah, aka...

SHREVEPORT, La. – Two Texas men pleaded guilty to trafficking more than 10 kilograms of fentanyl through Louisiana, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and United States Attorney David C. Joseph. Felipe Rodriguez, 22, of McAllen, Texas, and Brandon Montoya, 24, of Kaufman, Texas, pleaded...

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced action against a dangerous designer synthetic cathinone linked to 151 overdose deaths in the United States between 2015 and 2018. Published in today’s Federal Register, DEA’s action puts N-Ethylpentylone into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I substances refer to...

WASHINGTON – The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance today released the Fentanyl Safety Recommendations for First Responders’ companion training video Fentanyl: The Real Deal. The video was produced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help first responders protect themselves when the presence of fentanyl is suspected...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Dr. Gilberto Sanchez, 56, of Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to serve 12 years and 1 month in prison for prescribing unnecessary controlled substances to his patients, committing health care fraud, and laundering money, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and United States...

WASHINGTON - While in Cleveland, Ohio, Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the unsealing of a 43-count indictment in federal court in Cleveland, which charges two Chinese citizens with operating a conspiracy that manufactured and shipped deadly fentanyl analogues and 250 other drugs to at least 25 countries and 37...

ALEXANDRIA, La. – A senior leader of the Aryan Circle (AC) and a subordinate gang member pleaded guilty today and yesterday to being an accessory-after-the-fact to racketeering murder. David Wayne Williams, 38, of Sulphur, Louisiana, a senior leader in the gang, and Leland Hamm, 43, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Department of Justice has reached an agreement with CVS Pharmacy, Inc. to resolve violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations at CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the Northern District of Alabama, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U.S. Attorney...

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have proposed a reduction for controlled substances that may be manufactured in the U.S. next year. Consistent with President Trump’s “Safe Prescribing Plan” that seeks to “cut nationwide opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years,” the proposal decreases...