United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO – Pacific Beach resident Maya Kol was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for selling fentanyl powder that caused the death of one man and sent another to the hospital over Labor Day weekend in September 2018. Two other men—including the source of Kol’s...

SAN DIEGO – A superseding indictment and arrest warrants were unsealed in federal court against alleged Mexican drug cartel enforcement leaders in connection with their alleged violent support of heroin and methamphetamine trafficking. The superseding indictment, returned on March 6, 2020, plus a related indictment returned on March 16, 2021...

RIVERSIDE, CA – Law enforcement authorities today arrested 12 defendants charged in a federal grand jury indictment alleging they conspired to traffic large quantities of methamphetamine from their suppliers in Mexico into and throughout the Inland Empire. The 19-count indictment charges a total of 19 defendants with one count of...

SAN DIEGO – Andrew Samuel Daniel Gossai was sentenced in federal court today to 226 months in prison for supplying the fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose of 45-year old Derrick Hotchkiss, a longtime rugby player for the San Diego Old Aztecs Rugby Football Club. Gossai, the last of...

LOS ANGELES – Federal authorities today announced 11 criminal cases against alleged drug dealers who sold or provided narcotics to users who suffered fatal overdoses from opioids such as fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. As a result of the operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, each of the 12 defendants...

SAN DIEGO – Tony Davis pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose of Jacqueline Galvan, a 41-year-old San Diego woman, on October 24, 2018. According to his plea agreement, Davis agreed to sell more than 100 grams of what he...

SAN DIEGO –A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today against alleged Mexican drug cartel leader Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas in connection with suspected heroin and fentanyl trafficking. Penuelas was also the target of sanctions imposed today by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The indictment, returned on...

SAN DIEGO – Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada-Imperial, aka “Mayito Gordo,” pleaded guilty in federal court today to drug trafficking charges following his extradition to the Southern District of California in December 2019. He also agreed to forfeit $5 million in drug trafficking proceeds. Zambada-Imperial pleaded guilty to all charges...

SAN DIEGO – Today the Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Project Wave Breaker, to disrupt the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States. Project Wave Breaker will direct interdiction, enforcement, and outreach efforts to the San Diego Field Division (SDFD) to disrupt the flow of fentanyl in...

SAN DIEGO – With opioid overdose deaths increasing during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration is holding its 20th Take Back Day this Saturday, April 24th. DEA has collected over 6,800 tons of prescription drugs over the 10-year span of Take Back Day, and during DEA’s October 2020 Take Back...