WASHINGTON – Three Houston-area pharmacists, a doctor, and a pharmacy technician have been arrested for allegedly running three pharmacies and two clinics as “pill mills;” distributing hydrocodone, oxycodone, and other controlled drugs without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, since January 2018, Chrisco Pharmacy (Chrisco), Keystone Pharmacy (Keystone)...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 41-year-old convicted felon will be returning to federal prison for his role in a 17-kilogram cocaine trafficking conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux and Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Marcus Donell Hollowell aka "Red" pleaded guilty August...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide...

SAN ANTONIO – A federal grand jury in San Antonio returned an indictment this week charging two Kerrville men and an Ingram man with distribution of narcotics. According to court documents, Scott Mitchell Brown, 35, and John Henry Swiencki, 51, of Kerrville and David Jeffrey Hughes, Jr., 42, of Ingram...

SAN ANTONIO - The United States Attorney’s Office has collected $792,000 in civil penalties as two more civil Controlled Substances Act (CSA) investigations have settled, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Steven S. Whipple, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer. These civil settlements, coupled with...

SAN DIEGO –Escondido pain clinic doctor Bradley Chesler, M.D., has paid the United States $153,000 to resolve allegations that he overprescribed opioids. Dr. Chesler is a board-certified physiatrist who operates a pain clinic in Escondido, California. This settlement stems from the United States’ investigation into whether Dr. Chesler illegally prescribed...

Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 13 individuals, including current and former University of Texas (UT) students, charged in connection with trafficking LSD, fentanyl and methamphetamine pills to UT students in Austin. That announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent...

SAN DIEGO – Egisto Salerno, M.D., a San Diego resident, was sentenced to 18 months in custody by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Ann Bashant for causing the illegal distribution of an opioid pain medication commonly known as Norco or Vicodin. Salerno, whose medical practice was located on El Cajon Boulevard...

SAN ANTONIO - In Del Rio, a federal grand jury added two new charges of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death to an existing 20-count indictment returned in May against Dr. Alfonso Luevano, announced DEA Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy, U.S. Attorney John F. Bash...

HOUSTON -- In what is believed to be the first fentanyl distribution case using the dark web and crypto currency in the Southwest Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Region, a federal judge in San Antonio today sentenced 30-year-old Alaa Mohammed Allawi to 30 years in federal prison for distributing...