United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PHOENIX - The DEA is alerting all law enforcement, first responders and citizens to the confirmed overdose fatality attributed to the very potent and highly dangerous drug, carfentanil. A review of overdose investigation records provided to DEA’s Heroin Enforcement Action (HEAT) revealed the incident occurred in late 2017. Carfentanil is...

TUCSON, Ariz. - The DEA announced today, along with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the grand jury indictment of Dr. David Alan Ruben, a medical doctor and board certified psychiatrist. Dr. Ruben was indicted on a total of 26 felony charges, including Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices and Administration of Narcotic...

PHOENIX - The DEA announces the conviction of Thomas Mario Costanzo, a.k.a. Morpheus Titania, of Mesa, Arizona, by a federal jury on March 28, 2018, on five counts of money laundering in Phoenix. This long term investigation resulted in one of the first convictions of a money launderer in Arizona...

PHOENIX - The DEA’s Phoenix Division has finished tallying the amount of drugs collected from those agencies who participated in the October 28th National Take Back event. Once again, Arizonans turned out in huge numbers and disposed of 11,668 pounds, nearly six tons, of prescription drugs. The total for the...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Division announced the release of the 2017 National Drug Threat (NDTA) report, which outlines the threats posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs. “This report underscores...

PHOENIX - DEA announced today the expansion of the its Heroin Enforcement Action (HEAT) initiative to Pinal County as part of a collaborative effort by the DEA Phoenix Field Division and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to address the opioid epidemic. Nearly 500 people in Arizona have lost their lives...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Division announced today that 42,426 pounds of prescription drugs were collected across Pennsylvania and Delaware by the DEA and its partners during the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event this past Saturday, October 28th. A specific...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Division announced today that the DEA will conduct its 14th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event on Saturday, October 28th between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. As with previous Take-Back events, approximately 323 collection sites will...

PHOENIX - On August 13, 2017, Drug Enforcement (DEA) Phoenix Field Division agents and Tempe Police Department detectives seized 30,000 fentanyl pills, during an enforcement operation against a Sinaloa Cartel-related drug trafficking organization. This is the largest seizure of fentanyl tablets in Arizona’s history. The pills were discovered after a...

TUCSON, Ariz. - The DEA announced today the sentencing of Gustavo Nunez to 38.25 years in prison for performing illegal cosmetic surgeries on seven victims, three of whom were hospitalized, one with life-threatening injuries. In April 2017, Nunez pleaded guilty to 28 felony charges after performing illegal liposuction procedures. “Gustavo...