DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
45 Results - Showing 21 to 30
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Recognizes First Ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day

SAN DIEGO – In an effort to save lives, DEA is proud to join “Song for Charlie” and many of our valued public health, non-profit, and law enforcement partners in recognizing the first ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day. This day is an effort to educate individuals around the dangerous threat...
PRESS RELEASE

Chula Vista Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Distributing Fentanyl-Laced Pills that Caused Overdose Death of 20-Year-Old

SAN DIEGO –Jonathan Mefford was sentenced in federal court today to 190 months in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills that caused the death of a 20-year-old Chula Vista man, identified in court records as J.P., in October of 2018, and for distributing multi-pound level quantities of methamphetamine in Kansas. Mefford...
PRESS RELEASE

Alleged Drug Trafficker Extradited from Ecuador

SAN DIEGO – Brayan Alberto Rodriguez-Alcala, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficker, was extradited to the United States from Ecuador today. On October 19, 2021, a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of California returned an indictment charging Rodriguez-Alcala with participating in a long-running worldwide conspiracy to traffic...
PRESS RELEASE

El Cajon Resident Sentenced to 15 Years for Selling Counterfeit Pills with Fentanyl that Caused 19-Year-Old’s Death

SAN DIEGO – El Cajon resident Olatunde James Temitope Akintonde was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills that caused the death of a 19-year-old Santee man, identified in court records as S.J.G., in March of 2019. Akintonde previously admitted that he sent...
PRESS RELEASE

San Diego Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Fentanyl Overdose Death

SAN DIEGO – Tony Davis was sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo to 13 years in prison for supplying the heroin and fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose of a 41-year-old San Diego woman, on October 24, 2018. According to his plea agreement...
PRESS RELEASE

Alleged Drug Cartel Leader Charged

SAN DIEGO–A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today against alleged Mexican cartel leader Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela in connection with his drug trafficking activities. Valenzuela Valenzuela was also the target of sanctions imposed today by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The indictment, returned on September 28...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Trafficker who used Teens as Couriers Sentenced to 85 Months

SAN DIEGO – A Tijuana-based drug trafficker who used teens as drug couriers was sentenced in federal court today to seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine for his leadership role in coordinating the movement of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine to San Diego from Mexico...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Jury Returns Guilty Verdict in Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Case

SAN DIEGO - A federal jury returned a guilty verdict today convicting Jahvaris Lamoun Springfield of selling Brendan James Gallagher fentanyl pills that resulted in Gallagher’s fatal overdose on February 5, 2019. Springfield is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns. The...
PRESS RELEASE

Pacific Beach Resident Sentenced for Distributing Fentanyl that Caused Two Overdoses

SAN DIEGO – Pacific Beach resident Maya Kol was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for selling fentanyl powder that caused the death of one man and sent another to the hospital over Labor Day weekend in September 2018. Two other men—including the source of Kol’s...
PRESS RELEASE

San Diego Man Pleads Guilty in Fentanyl Overdose Death

SAN DIEGO – Tony Davis pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied fentanyl that led to the fatal overdose of Jacqueline Galvan, a 41-year-old San Diego woman, on October 24, 2018. According to his plea agreement, Davis agreed to sell more than 100 grams of what he...