United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON - The National Heroin Threat Assessment (NHTA), released today by the United States Drug Enforcement (DEA), shows heroin use and availability on the rise and causing more overdose deaths than at any time in the last decade. Although fewer people presently use heroin than other illicit drugs, the heroin...

SAN DIEGO - Jose Rodrigo Arechiga-Gamboa, also known as “Chino Antrax,” pleaded guilty in federal court today. Chino Antrax admitted that as a high-level member of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel he and his co-conspirators coordinated the transportation of tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States and ordered or...

WASHINGTON - DEA Special Agent Joseph Piersante today became the first-ever member of DEA to receive the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom - . Piersante was struck by enemy gun fire while on a counter-terrorism and narcotics mission in Afghanistan in 2011. The Defense of Freedom...

WASHINGTON - The United States Drug Enforcement (DEA) today issued a nationwide alert about the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues/compounds. Fentanyl is commonly laced in heroin, causing significant problems across the country, particularly as heroin abuse has increased. This alert was issued through the multi-agency El Paso Intelligence (EPIC)...

SAN DIEGO - Four men appeared in federal court today and yesterday to face charges that they participated in a scheme to manufacture and traffic in firearms illegally, in some instances by assembling untraceable assault-style weapons in a defendant’s home and then selling the guns for thousands of dollars. Federal...

WASHINGTON - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart today issued the following statement on the arrest in Mexico of Zetas leader Omar Trevino Morales: "The Drug Enforcement Administration proudly congratulates the Government of Mexico and their leadership in the arrest of Omar Trevino Morales, head of the Zetas cartel. The Zetas...

WASHINGTON - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart today issued the following statement in response to the capture of Knights Templar Cartel Leader Servando Gomez-Martinez, a.k.a. “La Tuta” by the Mexican Federal Police: "The arrest of Servando Gomez-Martinez, a.k.a. "La Tuta," is another win for Mexico in the fight against brutal...

SAN DIEGO - Sixty alleged members and associates of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel - including the highest ranking leaders, lieutenants and operators of multiple distribution cells - are charged in 14 indictments unsealed today with trafficking huge quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana to points around the United States...

SAN DIEGO - This morning, the DEA San Diego Field Division’s Narcotics Task (NTF) along with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Health Advocates Rejecting Marijuana, (HARM) announce the total amount of illegal marijuana plants seized in San Diego County in 2014. During calendar year 2014, NTF and our...

SAN DIEGO - Del Mar physician William Joseph Watson today became the first doctor in the Southern District of California in recent history to be sentenced to federal prison for prescribing thousands of Oxycodone pills and other highly addictive painkillers without any legitimate medical purpose. U.S. District Judge James M...