RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Today, a federal indictment was unsealed charging 44 defendants in a major operation aimed at disrupting drug and gun crimes in Pope and Yell Counties. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on October 3, 2017, and was unsealed today following a coordinated roundup of...

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice has designated Robert W. Patterson as the Drug Enforcement Administration acting administrator. Patterson was appointed as DEA’s principal deputy administrator in November 2016. In that role, he served as DEA’s chief operating officer, overseeing all of the agency’s enforcement, intelligence, administrative, and regulatory activities...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Christopher Grant Watson, 44, of Perryville, a former pharmacist and owner of Perry County Food and Drug Store, will be spending the next 10 years in federal prison, announced Stephen G. Azzam, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) New Orleans Division, Patrick C...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A former lead technician at a central Alabama pharmacy was charged today with tampering with vials of opioid painkillers used in the compounding of intravenous fluid bags intended for hospice and homecare patients, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton, U.S. Attorney Jay...

BATON ROUGE, La. - Four defendants - two from Baton Rouge and two from California - were sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy involving shipments of heroin from California to Baton Rouge, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley...

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond Donovan, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that Muhammad Asif Hafeez, aka “Sultan,” was provisionally arrested in London pursuant to...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Birmingham man pled guilty today in federal court to selling heroin last year that caused the death of one person and seriously injured another, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town. Michael Dewayne “Big Boi”...

NEW ORLEANS - On August 17 a federal jury convicted Dan Pizzaro, 48 and a resident of California, for his role in conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in the New Orleans area, announced DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen G. Azzam, and Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. Following a four...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As a result of several long-term DEA investigations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) today identified Mexican national Raul Flores Hernandez and the Flores Drug Trafficking (Flores DTO) as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (Kingpin Act)...

SHREVEPORT, La. - Today, a federal jury found a Texas man guilty of conspiring to transport methamphetamine and cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Brad L. Byerley and Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. Erasmo Aviles Jr., 35, of Spring, Texas, was found guilty of one count...