DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
38 Results - Showing 11 to 20
PRESS RELEASE

DEA warns of scammers impersonating DEA employees

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration urges its DEA-registered practitioners and members of the public to be cautious of telephone calls by scammers posing as DEA employees attempting to defraud and extort victims. The schemers call the victims, spoofing DEA phone numbers in order to appear legitimate, and threaten arrest...
PRESS RELEASE

Attorney General William P. Barr Joins President Donald J. Trump to Announce Expansion of Operation Legend

WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General William P. Barr joined President Donald J. Trump to announce the expansion of Operation Legend to Chicago and Albuquerque. Operation Legend is a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement...
PRESS RELEASE

Attorney General William P. Barr joins President Donald J. Trump to announce significant cases stemming from Joint Task Force Vulcan

WASHINGTON – Today, President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr announced significant cases related to Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), an initiative launched in August 2019 aimed at disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately, destroying MS-13. President Trump and Attorney General Barr announced a number of significant cases associated...
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. citizen charged with violating the Kingpin Act

NEW YORK – A complaint was unsealed yesterday in the Eastern District of New York charging Bryant Espinoza Aguilar, the stepson of Sinaloa Cartel leader and notorious fugitive Rafael Caro Quintero, with conspiring to commit violations of the Kingpin Act, an economic sanctions program against narcotics traffickers that is administered...
PRESS RELEASE

New rewards offered for information leading to capture of two FARC leaders

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Department of State today announced new rewards for information that assists in identifying and bringing to justice two Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) leaders who allegedly participated in corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with high-ranking Venezuelan officials. Through the...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA, DOD, DHS and U.S. Coast Guard announce offload of more than 33,000 pounds of seized drugs in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Coast Guard announced today a significant offload of drugs seized in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Agents with the DEA and the crew of the USCG Cutter...
PRESS RELEASE

Former member of Venezuelan National Assembly charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offenses

NEW YORK – DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman announced today that Adel El Zabayar was charged in Manhattan federal court with participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, a cocaine importation conspiracy, and related weapons offenses involving...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA podcast about drug misuse among college students wins award

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s podcast series, Prevention Profiles: Take Five , has received a Second Place Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Award from the National Association of Government Communicators. Prevention Profiles: Take Five highlights issues related to preventing drug misuse among college students. Each podcast episode is...
PRESS RELEASE

Attorney General Barr announces Timothy J. Shea as new Acting Administrator of Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the appointment of Timothy J. Shea as Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “I am pleased to appoint Tim Shea as DEA Acting Administrator,” said Attorney General Barr. “A highly regarded public servant, Tim’s long career in both federal and...
PRESS RELEASE

Alleged narcotrafficker and high ranking cartel member extradited from Uruguay to the United States

WASHINGTON – A Mexican national will have his initial appearance in federal court in the District of Columbia later today on charges related to his alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting...