ST. LOUIS – In an effort to save lives, DEA is proud to join “Song for Charlie” and many of our valued public health, non-profit, and law enforcement partners in recognizing the first ever National Fentanyl Awareness Day. This day is an effort to educate individuals around the dangerous threat...

LOS ANGELES – A Sylmar man pleaded guilty this afternoon to two federal drug trafficking offenses, one of which stemmed from a 2020 transaction in which he sold bogus oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that caused a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton to suffer a fatal overdose. Gustavo Jaciel...

LOS ANGELES – A San Bernardino County man was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment that alleges he sold fentanyl to a woman last year who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose from the powerful synthetic opioid. John Biagianti, 31, of Upland, was arrested this morning at his...

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...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Charles “Man Man” Thompson to 45 years in prison today. The 35-year-old St. Louis resident pleaded guilty in January 2020 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine; three counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Trenton, Missouri, men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Grundy County, Mo., and elsewhere. Troy Lee Palmer, 24, and Dallas W. Hughs, 26, were charged in a six-count indictment returned under seal by...

WICHITA, KAN. – A federal jury convicted two Wichita men on charges related to an inmate-run drug trafficking ring headquartered from a prison cell in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Following the presentation of court documents and evidence at trial, a jury found Kevin Lewis, 58, and Travis Vontress, 45, guilty...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A California man was charged in federal court today with smuggling more than four kilograms of counterfeit pills that contain fentanyl aboard a bus traveling through Kansas City, Missouri, from Los Angeles, Calif. Matthew John Gomez, 27, was charged with one count of possessing fentanyl with...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An investigation into an armed and violent drug-trafficking organization led to the arrests of 25 Kansas City, Missouri, area residents this week in an operation that involved more than 200 law enforcement officers from multiple local and federal agencies. “This operation removed a large number of...

ST. LOUIS – Gerald Hunter, 56, of Los Angeles, appeared today before U.S. District Judge John A. Ross and was sentenced to life in federal prison. Hunter was convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl...