EL PASO, Texas – Dr. Herbert Nassour, a former physician in El Paso, has agreed to pay $350,000 under a civil settlement to resolve allegations he violated certain provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Dr. Nassour was a physician registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe and...

EL PASO – The Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This bi-annual event offers free, anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide. “Disposing of unneeded medications can...

BENTON, Ill. – Eugene Falls, 42, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced on March 31, 2022, to 405 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine; attempted possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine; distribution of heroin; and money laundering...

BENTON, Ill. – Jose Angulo, 51, of Phoenix, was sentenced on March 24, 2022, to 30 years for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, money laundering, and distribution of methamphetamine. Evidence demonstrated that between 2018 through November of 2019, Angulo was responsible for shipping more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine to the...

NEW YORK – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Laurence F. Doud III, the former Chief Executive Officer of Rochester Drug Co-Operative, Inc. (RDC), was convicted today in Manhattan federal court of conspiring to distribute unlawfully, oxycodone and fentanyl, and conspiring...

ALBUQERQUE, N.M. – Fred J. Federici, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, has announced that Ready Pharmacy has agreed to a $400,000 settlement relating to civil claims brought by the Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) El Paso Division Regulatory Diversion Group...

BUFFALO, NY – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross and Timothy Foley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, announced that Takeya Rainey, 45, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy that distributed more than 2,600 kilograms of cocaine in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Jesus Salvador Campoy-Estrada, also known as “Chava” and “Chavita,” 27, of Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced by...

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...

ST. LOUIS – A federal grand jury indicted Derek Rockette of St. Louis for charges that include conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. The indictment also alleges in a money laundering conspiracy charge that Rockette, Norma Corina Armenta-Lizarraga, Jian Zhong Fang, Yuede...