DETROIT – In an effort to mitigate vulnerabilities within the commerce stream that threaten the nation’s consumers and to protect national security, Homeland Security officials recently launched its Global Trade Task Force, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations-led multi-agency effort that leverages robust import and export controls...

CINCINNATI – A defendant was sentenced today in the first federally indicted carfentanil prosecution in the country. Phillip Watkins, 34, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 300 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin laced with carfentanil and attempting to murder a witness he believed...

DAYTON, Ohio – The lead defendant in a Southwestern Ohio methamphetamine conspiracy pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last Friday. Salvador Ramirez (also known as Listo), 24, of West Chester is the final defendant to plead in this case. Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, United States Drug Enforcement...

DETROIT – Two men from California were sentenced this month for their role in a drug conspiracy that resulted in, what was at the time, the third largest fentanyl seizure in the United States, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – David L. Dobbins, 39, of Urbancrest, Ohio, was sentenced in United States District Court to 240 months in prison for dealing narcotics that resulted in an overdose death. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – United States Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that Alex Alberto Castro received 42 years in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine. A federal jury convicted Castro in October 2018. He was the lead defendant of a 20-plus defendant drug trial. Chief United States District...

CLEVELAND- Six people from Ohio were indicted in federal court for their roles in a health care fraud conspiracy in which Medicaid was billed $48 million for drug and alcohol recovery services which were not provided, not medically necessary, lacked proper documentation, or had other issues that made them ineligible...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Special Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration this morning arrested an Orange County doctor on federal charges that allege he illegally distributed opioid and other powerful narcotics by writing prescriptions for “patients” without medical examinations and to at least five individuals who suffered overdose deaths. One...

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...

LOS ANGELES – A Hollywood man who allegedly sold fentanyl to buyers he met on Craigslist was indicted today on federal charges of selling the powerful synthetic opioid to a customer who suffered a fatal overdose. Andrew Madi, 25, was charged by a federal grand jury with one count of...