United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced proposed regulations to improve DEA’s ability to oversee the production of dangerous drugs at the height of the national opioid crisis. This proposed regulation would further limit excess quantities of medications that might be vulnerable to diversion for illicit distribution and use...

NEW YORK – On October 18, DEA Special Operations Division Special Agent in Charge Wendy C. Woolcock and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman announced that on a jury returned a guilty verdict against Juan Antonio Hernández Alvarado, aka “Tony Hernández,” on all four...

WASHINGTON – With robust public participation over the course of 17 prior events, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors, including...

WASHINGTON – Following the successful launch of the 2019 National Red Ribbon Campaign earlier this month with First Lady Melania Trump at the annual Red Ribbon Rally , DEA is encouraging communities nationwide to Go Red for Red Ribbon – an effort to continue the momentum and promote awareness of...

SAN DIEGO – Dr. Roger A. Kasendorf, an osteopathic physician practicing in La Jolla, agreed to pay $125,000 to resolve allegations that he illegally prescribed opioids to his patients. The highly addictive and frequently abused opioids he prescribed included fentanyl, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone. In response to the Justice Department’s...

SAN DIEGO – Drug dealer Trevon Antone Lucas was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for selling the counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that caused the overdose death of a La Jolla resident in June of 2018. Lucas, a resident of Highland, Calif., pleaded guilty...

WASHINGTON – First Lady Melania Trump today joined DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon to celebrate the official launch of the 2019 Red Ribbon campaign, dedicated to preserving the memory of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena – a DEA special agent who was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in Mexico by...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have issued warning letters to four website owners of rogue online pharmacies offering to distribute or dispense controlled substances, including opioids, and advertising their sale in violation of federal law. This is the first time the...

SAN DIEGO – Eight indictments were unsealed today in San Diego federal court charging 85 members of drug distribution networks linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, with federal drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses. During the coordinated takedown that began early this morning, investigators executed over a dozen search warrants...

SAN DIEGO – Uriah Odish pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose of 25-year-old Tiffany Hansen, of La Mesa, on Jan. 23, 2018. According to his plea agreement, Odish sold more than 500 grams of what he knew to be...