United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ST. LOUIS - Matthew R. Barden, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA St. Louis Division, today announced two significant prison sentences handed down by the U.S. Courts as the result of great investigative work by the DEA Springfield, Missouri office. Santiago Soto-Garcia, 25, of Joplin, received a 25-year...

ST. LOUIS - Matthew Barden, Associate Special Agent in Charge of the DEA St. Louis Division, announces substantial prison sentences as the result of two large-scale drug investigations, led by the DEA office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In one case, Ryan Buchheim, 48, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received a 20-year...

PHOENIX - DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman, along with the Tempe Police Department and Arizona Attorney General’s Office, announced the recent takedown of a local methamphetamine trafficking ring. Five people were indicted for their alleged involvement in a drug trafficking organization that operated in Tempe, Tolleson, Avondale, and...

PHOENIX - The DEA’s Phoenix Field Division has finished calculating the amount of drugs collected from those agencies who participated in the April 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Arizonans turned out in massive numbers and disposed of 12,025.43 pounds, over six tons, of prescription drugs. The total for...

PHOENIX - The DEA announced the conclusion of its case against Juan Mark Sayegh, 44, of Phoenix, who earlier this week was sentenced in federal court to serve 48 months in prison and ordered to forfeit an estimated $1.7 million in cash and assets. Sayegh was the owner and operator...

PHOENIX - DEA announced the 15th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place April 28th from 10 am-2 pm local time. Sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can anonymously return their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal. (DEA cannot accept liquids, needles...

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...

ST. LOUIS - Matt Barden, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division Office, today announced that Robert “Bobby” Whitenack, 37, a convicted felon from Westside, Iowa, was convicted on the charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking...

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...