United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO – A leader of the Westside Crips was sentenced to 82 months in prison on March 7, 2019 for his aggravating role in a racketeering conspiracy involving sex trafficking, narcotics trafficking and other violent crimes as well as possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute...

SAN DIEGO – Former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza was sentenced in federal court on March 8, 2019 to 36 months in prison for knowingly and intentionally possessing 20 kilograms - about 44 pounds - of cocaine with intent to distribute. “Mr. Loaiza lived every young boy’s dream...

SAN DIEGO – Westside Crips gang member William McKinley Bright today became the last of 12 defendants to plead guilty, admitting that he participated in a racketeering conspiracy involving narcotics trafficking, sex trafficking and other violent crimes. Bright, aka “Slim,” admitted to his membership and association with the Westside Crips...

SAN DIEGO – With the robust participation of Americans nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners have now surpassed its 10 million pound goal and collected nearly 11 million pounds of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications over the course of 16 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events...

SAN DIEGO – After collecting a total of more than 9.9 million pounds (nearly 5,000 tons) of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications during 15 previous events over the past eight years, the Drug Enforcement Administration expects to reach a total of 10 million pounds collected following the upcoming fall...

SAN DIEGO – Suspected drug dealer Trevon Lucas was indicted by a federal grand jury for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of a La Jolla resident, identified only as C.A.S. in court filings. According to statements made by prosecutors at his detention hearing yesterday, C.A.S. was found dead in...

SAN DIEGO – Jose Atalo Felix-Beltran, Arturo Felix-Beltran (U.S. citizens), and Osvaldo Felix-Beltran (U.S. resident) living in Indio, California, were arraigned in federal court on September 14, 2018 on charges that they conspired to distribute over 20,000 pills of fentanyl, a Schedule II drug. These three defendants are brothers who...

SAN DIEGO – The Drug Enforcement Administration joined the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Health and Human Services and the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office today to warn the public about a spate of deaths in beach communities connected to cocaine...

SAN DIEGO – Lahkwinder Singh was sentenced in federal court on Sept. 7, 2018, to 36 months in federal prison and a forfeiture of $1,955,521 to the United States for structuring approximately $2,955,521 in currency transactions with domestic financial institutions. The 36-month sentence is one of the longest imposed in...

Washington D.C. – Jose Augustin Salmeron-Larios aka "Joseph Morales-Martinez," "Angel Salvador Gutierrez," "Yankee," and "Kean," age 25, of Severn, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; attempted murder in aid of racketeering; and using and carrying a...