DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
73 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Bartell Drug chain settles allegations it filled invalid prescriptions

SEATTLE - The U.S. Department of Justice and Bartell Drug Inc., today resolved allegations that, between July 2016 and August 2020, the pharmacy chain filled invalid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Under the terms of the settlement, Bartell Drug will pay the government an $800,000 fine. Bartell...
PRESS RELEASE

Eleven indicted in wide-ranging conspiracy trafficking heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine in multi-state area

SEATTLE – Eleven people have been indicted by a grand jury sitting in the Western District of Washington for a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy. One of those indicted is a rap artist from Snohomish County, Washington, who discussed his drug trafficking activity in a documentary video. All of those in...
PRESS RELEASE

Jury Convicts Cocoa Can of Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

ORLANDO, Fla. – A federal jury found Jerimiah Swanson (22, Cocoa) guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Swanson faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to 40 years, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for...
PRESS RELEASE

Regional Drug Distributor and His Assistant Sentenced to Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Drugs

TAMPA, Fla. - Adan Barajas Maldonado (35, Mexico) was sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiring to distribute controlled substances and for possessing a gun to further his drug trafficking enterprise. Maldonado had pleaded guilty on October 30, 2019. Edwar Rodriguez (32, New York), one of Maldonado’s assistants, was...
PRESS RELEASE

Eight drug traffickers indicted for distributing heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl throughout the Puget Sound region

SEATTLE - Eight people who were charged in a wide-ranging drug investigation that resulted in the seizure of significant quantities of suspected fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine were arrested earlier today. All those arrested appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle today. “The rising numbers of fentanyl overdoses is on the...
PRESS RELEASE

Colombian Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Trafficking Charges for His Role in International Cocaine Importation Conspiracy

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Gustavo Adolfo Pareja, 26, of Cali, Colombia, pled guilty today to conspiracy to import 50 kilograms of cocaine for distribution in the United States. Pareja was extradited by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida last month as a result of an extensive...
PRESS RELEASE

Felon arrested at Puyallup motel pleads guilty to drug and gun crimes

SEATTLE - A federal felon, arrested for violating his supervised release, faces new prison time following his guilty plea to drug and gun possession charges. Joshua Lobben, 32, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm...
PRESS RELEASE

44 Charged Following 18 Month Investigation Into Drug Trafficking Organization

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. – A total of 15 defendants have been indicted on federal drug-trafficking charges and an additional 29 co-conspirators face state drug-trafficking charges as a result of a multi-agency effort to bring down an organized drug trafficking operation in North Florida. Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for...
PRESS RELEASE

Record collection in the Pacific Northwest of unwanted medications during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

SEATTLE – DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day brought in nearly a million pounds of unused, expired, and unwanted medications across the country, the largest amount ever collected in the program’s ten years. Americans once again showed their dedication to remove prescription pills from their homes to prevent addiction...
PRESS RELEASE

Two South Florida Police Officers Charged with Federal Drug Trafficking Crime

MIAMI - Miami-Dade County Police Officers Roderick Michael Flowers, 30, and Keith Maurice Edwards Jr., 28, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine. It also charges Manuel Carlos Hernandez, 23, with conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Hernandez, Durojaiye Obafemi Monsuru Lawal, 24, and Trevanti McLeod, 23, all from South...