NEW ORLEANS – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Operation Overdrive, aimed at combatting the rising rates of drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths plaguing American communities. Last fall, DEA initiated a data-driven approach using national crime statistics and CDC data to identify hot spots of drug-related violence...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announced today the arrests of four individuals for their roles in a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana in Parkersburg and elsewhere. The takedown is...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jose Manuel Prieto, Jr., of Apple Valley, California, was sentenced earlier this week to 97 months in prison for his involvement in a methamphetamine distribution and money laundering conspiracy. He pleaded guilty to the aforementioned charges on August 19, 2020. “I’m extremely proud of the work done...

NEW ORLEANS – Today, Attorney General William P. Barr and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea announced the results of Operation Crystal Shield, DEA’s six-month-long effort targeting the command and control elements of Mexican cartels that operate major methamphetamine “transportation hubs” in the United States. At a press...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Today, Ramone Jardon Nickerson, 33, of Phenix City, Alabama, was arrested on two charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one charge of possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge...

NEW ORLEANS - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U. S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Jarvis Hardy, 28, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was charged in a nine-count superseding indictment by a Federal Grand Jury for conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or...

SHREVEPORT, La. - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley and United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that the last defendant in a Shreveport methamphetamine distribution ring was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison. Carlos Delarosa, 22, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced by...