DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
360 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Attorney's Office Secures Guilty Pleas in Albuquerque Fentanyl Case

ALBUQUERQUE – Two Albuquerque drug dealers pleaded guilty to federal charges after attempting to sell 30,000 fentanyl pills, containing approximately 3,200 grams of the drug, to an undercover law enforcement agent. According to court documents, on December 6, 2023, Miguel Antonio Ramirez, 23, and Isaiah Anthony Aragon, 24, conspired to...
PRESS RELEASE

Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Selling Fentanyl That Killed One Woman, Hospitalized Another

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019 to 14 years in prison. Zachary Hovis, 24, provided fentanyl to an 18-year-old woman in the parking...
PRESS RELEASE

Antelope Valley Man Faces New Charge Alleging He Knowingly Sold Fentanyl to Second Victim Who Died

LOS ANGELES – A Palmdale man already facing one charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death has been charged by federal grand jury indictment with an additional count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death related to the death of a Palmdale man in August, the Justice Department announced...
PRESS RELEASE

Defendant Admits Role in Fatal Fentanyl Overdose of Carlsbad Woman

San Diego – Bryan Kim Bullard pleaded guilty in federal court today to distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 25-year-old Carlsbad woman. According to the plea agreement, on September 9, 2023, Bullard’s co-defendant, Cameron William Fulston, reached out to the victim, identified in court records as...
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican National Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison on Drug Charges

BOISE – Efren Alexander Aviles-Pacheco, 29, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, illegally living in Ontario, Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Aviles-Pacheco to serve 10...
PRESS RELEASE

Illinois Man Sentenced to More Than 23 Years in Prison for Selling Fatal Fentanyl

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold the fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022 to 23 years and eight months in prison. “I’m going to send a message to other drug dealers,” said Judge...
PRESS RELEASE

Three Charged in Fentanyl/Heroin Packaging Operation in the Bronx: Over 13 Pounds of Illicit Drug Mixtures Seized

As part of an ongoing investigation into fentanyl/heroin trafficking in New York City, federal, state and local law enforcement officers recovered over 13 pounds of drug mixtures, including fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, methamphetamine, and cocaine, from inside a packaging mill. The drugs are estimated to carry a street value of over...
PRESS RELEASE

Colorado Breaks Record For Fentanyl Pill Seizures

DENVER – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) announces it has seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills – or “fake” pills – in Colorado, with one month remaining in the year. This breaks last year’s record-setting 2.61 million pills seized in the state. “It is an unfortunate...
PRESS RELEASE

Suspicious Travel Leads To DEA Seizure Of 670,000 Fake Pills In Colorado & New Mexico

COLORADO SPRINGS – An incoming tip based on the premise of “see something, say something” leads to the seizure of approximately 670,000 fentanyl pills in Colorado and New Mexico. Earlier this month, a tip out of Albuquerque led to the arrest of a man in Colorado Springs, suspected of transporting...
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Attorney's Office, DEA and HSI Announce Charges Against Fourteen Individuals in Major Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshal Service, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Doña Ana Sheriff’s Office, conducted a coordinated operation to dismantle a significant drug trafficking network in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The operation targeted 15...