Thank you and good morning. Thank you to ONDCP and to all the federal partners with whom we have been working on this important issue. This is a critical moment in our country. DEA’s mission is to keep American communities safe and healthy and we are in the midst of...

WASHINGTON – With the unprecedented worldwide health emergency brought on by COVID-19, last year was filled with new challenges and increased risks. While much of the world focused on combating the pandemic, DEA continued to implement initiatives to combat violent drug traffickers who were intent on flooding cities and rural...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Dr. David Ray Cesko, 66, of Rawlins, Wyoming, pleaded guilty on Feb. 26, 2020, in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne to multiple charges that, as a physician, he unlawfully distributed controlled substances, primarily opiates and benzodiazepines, to his patients. Cesko was charged by a Wyoming federal grand...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal judge today sentenced a Springville couple involved in a St. Clair County pill mill scheme, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Division Brad L. Byerley, U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, and IRS-Criminal Investigations Atlanta Field Office Special Agent in...

DENVER – In December of 2018, the Longmont Department of Public Safety Special Enforcement Unit began looking into the drug distribution activities of Joshua Ward, who resided in the city of Longmont. Utilizing various law enforcement investigative techniques, Longmont SEU identified numerous subjects in the northern Colorado region who were...

LOS ANGELES – As the greater Los Angeles area continues to be hamstrung by an opioid epidemic that has seen approximately 500 overdose deaths this year, the DEA in Los Angeles has announced a new comprehensive opioid strategy. At a press conference on Dec. 18, 2018, the DEA in Los...

PHOENIX – The DEA announces the sentencing of Fany Madrigal-Lopez, 45, to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release, following a hearing in federal court yesterday. Madrigal-Lopez previously pleaded guilty in April 2018, to two federal drug charges, including the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. The...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with federal and state prosecutors, announced today an unprecedented enforcement action spanning across the state of Arkansas in a combined effort to reverse the horrible effects on communities produced by violent drug traffickers. As part of this effort, dubbed Operation...

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced action against a dangerous designer synthetic cathinone linked to 151 overdose deaths in the United States between 2015 and 2018. Published in today’s Federal Register, DEA’s action puts N-Ethylpentylone into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I substances refer to...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Dr. Gilberto Sanchez, 56, of Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to serve 12 years and 1 month in prison for prescribing unnecessary controlled substances to his patients, committing health care fraud, and laundering money, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and United States...