United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO - Sinaloa Cartel Cell Leader Damaso Lopez-Serrano, aka Mini Lic, was arraigned in federal court today following his self-surrender to United States law enforcement authorities at the Calexico West Port of Entry on July 27. Lopez-Serrano, 29, is believed to be the highest-ranking Mexican cartel leader ever to...

SAN DIEGO - A long-term investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has led to one of the nation’s largest seizures of the deadly synthetic opiate fentanyl and a federal indictment against three alleged traffickers. “The opioid crisis the country is facing right now makes this indictment all the more...

(CHARLESTON, W.Va. - DEA announced today that the cities of Charleston and Huntington and the surrounding Tri-County areas will be the next region to be part of a comprehensive law enforcement and prevention initiative called the 360 Strategy. This program is designed to help cities and surrounding regions deal with...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that he fraudulently and illegally wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets for patients with no medical necessity, one of whom was a sex partner...

SAN DIEGO - Roberto Ponce-Rocha was extradited from Colombia on November 17, 2016, where he had been arrested for charges arising out of his leadership role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving the transportation of large-scale quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States. As part of the...

SAN DIEGO - The final tally is in from the 12th National Prescription Take-Back Day which took place Saturday, October 22, and DEA and its partners took back nearly 8,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 39 locations in San Diego County and four in Imperial County. Over the course of...

SAN DIEGO - America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over-2.4 percent of the population-abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month...

SAN DIEGO - Physician Naga Raja Thota, a pain specialist with an office in El Cajon, was arrested this morning and charged with distributing oxycodone and other highly addictive drugs without any legitimate medical purpose in exchange for sex acts. The doctor was taken into custody by San Diego Drug...

(GREENBELT, Md. - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Jeffrey Sean Nazari, 44, of Silver Spring, Maryland, today to 15 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing a controlled substance analogue, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Nazari admitted that...