United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man facing federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly trying to smuggle at least a kilogram of heroin on a plane leaving Los Angeles International (LAX) was scheduled to make his first court appearance this afternoon. James Mitchell, 25, who resides in Pico-Union, was arrested...

LOS ANGELES - Today throughout Los Angeles and neighboring counties, as well as in Arizona and Utah, agents from the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and officers from several state and local law enforcement agencies executed approximately 29 state search and arrest warrants. This enforcement operation culminates a nearly year-long investigation into...

LOS ANGELES - A Carlsbad man was sentenced this week to five years and three months in federal prison for his part in an international money laundering organization that conspired to move more than $15 million dollars in drug money for organizations that included the Sinaloa Cartel. Bradley John Martin...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he fraudulently and illegally wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets for patients with no medical necessity, one of whom was a sex partner...

SAN DIEGO - Roberto Ponce-Rocha was extradited from Colombia on November 17, 2016, where he had been arrested for charges arising out of his leadership role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving the transportation of large-scale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States. As part of the...

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles doctor has been convicted of federal “structuring” charges for making cash deposits totaling nearly a half million dollars in an effort to circumvent federal reporting requirements. Washington Bryan II, 48, of Westwood, was found guilty of 29 counts of structuring Thursday afternoon by a...

LOS ANGELES - Authorities have arrested 17 members and associates of the Wilmas street gang who are named in a federal racketeering indictment that alleges acts of murder, attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, robbery and witness intimidation - as well as a series of armed attacks on law enforcement officers dating...

SANTA, ANA, Calif. - The lead defendant in an indictment that outlined a wide-reaching conspiracy to smuggle, manufacture and distribute more than $12 million worth of synthetic drugs has pleaded guilty in federal court. Sean Libbert, 41, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to a series of charges related...

SAN DIEGO - The final tally is in from the 12th National Prescription Take-Back Day which took place Saturday, October 22, and DEA and its partners took back nearly 8,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 39 locations in San Diego County and four in Imperial County. Over the course of...

LOS ANGELES - A San Jacinto man affiliated with the Riverside San Jacinto First Street gang was sentenced to a decade in prison Monday for his role in methamphetamine trafficking. Luis Miguel Castro, aka “Fat Boy,” 27, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who found that...