PHOENIX - On October 2, 2021, thirteen Yavapai County community members proudly graduated from the Phoenix Field Division's (PFD) first ever DEA Citizen's Academy. The community-based training program provided civilians from the local community with a first-hand understanding of the critical mission and work conducted every day by the men...

Greenbelt, Md., – A federal jury convicted El Salvadorian nationals Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, a/k/a “Insolente” and “Trankilo,” age 24, of Landover, Maryland, and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, a/k/a “Reaper,” age 41, of Long Branch, New Jersey yesterday for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also...

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Brian Blackston, age 32, of Baltimore, yesterday to 70 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine in the Monument Street area of East Baltimore. The...

Greenbelt , Md., – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Andrew Joseph Trimmer, age 32, of Bowie, Maryland to ten and a half years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent...

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...

BOISE – Luis Leyva Verduzco was sentenced to 82 months in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. According to court records, beginning in early 2020, law enforcement received information that Verduzco, 32, a Mexican national living in Jerome, was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine...

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...

Greenbelt, Md., – Edwin Kerry Smith, age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and admitted that heroin he distributed to one victim resulted in the victim’s fatal overdose. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in...

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...

LOS ANGELES —Today, law enforcement investigators served nine arrest warrants in multiple locations throughout Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. In March of 2020, the DEA launched Operation Crystal Shield to focus efforts on main U.S. methamphetamine trafficking transportation hubs. DEA identified eight major methamphetamine transportation hubs where Operation Crystal Shield...