NEW ORLEANS – With robust public participation over the course of 17 prior events, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors...

GULFPORT, Miss. – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced David Quevedo Martinez, 40, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced yesterday by a senior U.S. district judge to life in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Martinez was also ordered to pay a...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A joint federal, state, and local law enforcement initiative has resulted in the arrests of 36 individuals on a variety of criminal charges, including drug trafficking, money laundering, using communication facilities to facilitate drug trafficking and various firearms offenses, announced the Drug Enforcement Administration. The majority of...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for distributing cocaine and heroin while possessing a firearm. According to court documents, Lorenzo Golden, 35, admitted that he had agreed to distribute and distributed more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than a...

WASHINGTON -- The DEA and the Washington Redskins announced today that they will team up to spread awareness about the ongoing opioid epidemic through a new campaign. This campaign will include public service announcements throughout the month of October and culminate in an epic game-day sponsored event during the October...

ROANOKE, Va. – On Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrived at a property owned by Dr. Vincent K. Jones to execute a federal arrest warrant. Upon arrival, agents found Dr. Jones unresponsive and acted promptly to administer emergency, life-saving care and additionally called for medical...

ABINGDON, Va. – Joel Smithers, 36, a Martinsville-based doctor, was sentenced Oct. 2, 2019 to 40 years in federal prison and sentenced to pay a special assessment of $86,000, on 861 federal drug charges in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Smithers was found to have prescribed more than half a...

BALTIMORE – A federal jury convicted Paul Alexander, a/k/a David Paul Hayes and "Shorty," age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, on five federal charges including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substances—specifically fentanyl, possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach dentist was sentenced today to eight and a half years in prison for conspiracy to distribute prescription opioids and muscle relaxant pills without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, Gary Hartman, 48, was involved in an elaborate scheme to prescribe opioids such...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former pharmacy owner was sentenced today to four years in prison for fraudulently filling and dispensing thousands of prescription medications, including opioids, outside the usual course of professional practice. Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, aka "Gulam Latif Chaudhury," 29, operated and controlled two now-defunct pharmacies known as Alexandria...