PHOENIX– Today, DEA in partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Tempe Police Department announced the culmination of a three-year long investigation targeting the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. To date, over 150 individuals have been charged and investigators have seized over 4.5 million fentanyl laced fake prescription pills, 66...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Last week, Francisco Pantoja, 25, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge John C. Hinderaker to nine years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Pantoja pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl in connection with the overdose death of a young...

DENVER – 57-year-old Bruce Holder of Grand Junction, CO has been sentenced to life in federal prison. In April 2021, Holder was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and counterfeit substances, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of a counterfeit substance, following an 11-day trial...

DENVER –The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division seized over 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022. The division, which covers the states of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, seized nearly two million fentanyl pills and more than 150 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2022. Last month, DEA...

TUCSON, Ariz. - Ramon Antonio Monreal-Rodriguez, 36, of Vail, Arizona, was sentenced on December 14, by United States District Judge James A. Soto, to 152 months in prison and ordered to pay $151,000 in restitution to the U.S. Border Patrol for salary drawn while engaged in criminal activity. Monreal-Rodriguez previously...

TUCSON, Ariz. - A federal grand jury in Tucson, Arizona, returned a 19-count indictment on November 10, 2022, against 10 current or former southern Arizona residents, including: Alberto Gabriel Aranda-Ramon, 31, of Tucson, Arizona Michele Oller, 54, of Tucson, Arizona Larry William Nelson, Jr., 51, of Arizona Ashley Yvonne Maxwell...

BUTTE, Mont. — A multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which brought massive quantities of methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and heroin to Butte for redistribution, has resulted in the federal convictions of 22 people. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich hosted a press...

DENVER –Today the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division hosted its first Family Summit in support of those who have lost loved ones to the drug poisoning and overdose epidemic. This is the first undertaking of its kind for the division, building off the momentum of this summer’s Inaugural Family...

DENVER – On Friday, December 2, 2022, the DEA Rocky Mountain Division, in coordination with the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Front Range Task Force (FRTF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Denver Division, and the Longmont Police Department Special Investigations Unit (SIU) seized almost 45 pounds of a fentanyl and cocaine mixture and...

PHOENIX – On Oct. 29, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country. Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription...