Richmond, Va., – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Washington Division announces the launch of Operation Engage in Richmond, Virginia. Operation Engage is comprehensive, community-level initiative, implemented to target and address the drug and related violence issues in cities with high levels of drug related problems. Operation Engage is new...

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Charles Benjamin Stewart, Jr., age 49, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on April 18, 2022, to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine; for illegally transporting a firearm obtained out...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Arlington man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute over seven kilograms of fentanyl. According to court documents, Taurean Venable, 37, and others would obtain kilogram quantities of fentanyl from various sources of supply. The group would then...

RICHMOND, Va. – A Sterling man pleaded guilty today to distribution of fentanyl. According to court documents, on July 21, 2021, Salahudin Mitchell, 39, distributed more than 56 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl. According to court documents, beginning in late 2020, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Alexandria man was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for conspiracy, possession, and distribution of fentanyl and Eutylone, and being a felon in possession of a firearm during drug trafficking. According to court documents, from in or around June 2020, through at least December 2020...

ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke man was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison for conspiring with others to traffic dangerous drugs from sources across the country into the Roanoke Valley. Stephen Cornell Vaughn Jr., 39, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to...

Greenbelt, Md., – Bobby Cannon, a/k/a Freaky, age 24 of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing two murders. The term "NFL" stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village...

Baltimore, Md., – Dwight Antonio Pitts, age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 19, 2021, to charges related to his participation in a drug distribution conspiracy involving large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs, shipped through the U.S. Mail from California to Maryland. The guilty plea was...

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman has approved a consent decree that permanently enjoins Elizabeth J. Allen, a Baltimore-based physician assistant, from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Allen violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in illegally prescribing opioids. Under...

Thank you and good morning. Thank you to ONDCP and to all the federal partners with whom we have been working on this important issue. This is a critical moment in our country. DEA’s mission is to keep American communities safe and healthy and we are in the midst of...