SEATTLE - The DEA is committed to the enforcement of federal drug laws in all states; however, it has never been DEA’s practice to target individuals with serious medical conditions. Marijuana remains listed as a dangerous, addictive Schedule I drug. Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or...

LOS ANGELES, CA - An 18-month task force investigation this morning resulted in the arrest of 23 individuals - mostly gang members - who are named in a federal drug trafficking indictment that alleges they participated in a methamphetamine distribution organization that operated in Whittier and surrounding communities. The main...

LOS ANGELES, CA - Federal and state authorities this morning arrested 10 defendants - including two doctors - who are named in a federal indictment that alleges members of a drug trafficking organization illegally obtained and distributed more than 1 million OxyContin pills obtained largely through fraud against public insurance...

ANCHORAGE, AK-- - Seven people were indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage, Alaska, for one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and four of the seven were also indicted for one count of money laundering. On September 20, 2011, Wilbert Barber, 31, Dante Whitley, 23, Alex Jurth 24...

BOISE -- - Francisco Cardona-Rodriguez, 38, a Mexican national formerly residing in Rio Grande City, Texas, was the fourth defendant to plead guilty to conspiracy to manufacture/distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants. Three co-defendants, also Mexican nationals, entered guilty pleas in United States District Court in September. Heber Franco-Lombera, 25...

BOISE -- - Sergio Said Gonzalez-Borquez, 21, a Mexican national formerly residing in Caldwell, Idaho, was sentenced on October 3, 2011 to five years in prison followed by four years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Gonzalez-Borquez pled guilty on March 14, 2011 to count one...

LAS VEGAS, NV - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) today announced that three men, including a Las Vegas physician, his assistant, and a local pharmacist, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they conspired to unlawfully distribute large quantities of highly addictive prescription drugs in and around...

SEATTLE, WASH-- - The leader of a Colombian cocaine trafficking organization was sentenced to 34 years in prison today in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Nivaldo Riascos Renteria, 41, is one of three men who were extradited from Colombia following an undercover investigation into a multi-ton cocaine trafficking conspiracy. In...

YAKIMA, WASH. -- - On September 21, 2011, the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) presented the very first Tribal Narcotics Officer of the year award to Yakama Nation Captain James Shike III. This award is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and was presented to Captain Shike III at the...

TACOMA, WASH. - Bill Celeya Flores, 60, of Puyallup, Washington, was sentenced September 16, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release for illegally possessing and distributing oxycodone and possession of a firearm by an unlawful use of a controlled...