TOPEKA, Kans. – The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division announced today an intelligence data-driven operation with local law enforcement partners in northeast Kansas to address the alarming increase in overdose events caused by counterfeit pills with fentanyl. Statistics collected about overdoses and overdose deaths in the region indicated shortcomings...

SAN DIEGO –Jonathan Mefford was sentenced in federal court today to 190 months in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills that caused the death of a 20-year-old Chula Vista man, identified in court records as J.P., in October of 2018, and for distributing multi-pound level quantities of methamphetamine in Kansas. Mefford...

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...

SAN DIEGO – Perry Edward Davis of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison for distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of Joshua Chambers, a 25-year-old husband and father of two young children from El Cajon. Davis was convicted by a federal...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Operation Overdrive, a new initiative aimed at combatting the rising rates of drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths plaguing American communities. Both St. Louis and Kansas City are among the 34 locations across 23 states where DEA efforts will be focused. Operation...

SAN DIEGO – Jahvaris Lamoun Springfield was sentenced in federal court today to 300 months in prison for selling the fentanyl pills that resulted in the fatal overdose of U.S. Army veteran Brendan James Gallagher on February 5, 2019. This is the longest sentence to date in this district for...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division broke a fentanyl seizure record for 2021 with nearly 188 kilograms seized through Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois. In addition, agents and task force officers seized 1,848 kilograms of methamphetamine and 73 kilograms of heroin. The meth seizure amount was...

SAN DIEGO - Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap of San Diego appeared in federal court today in connection with a grand jury indictment charging him with selling the fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 15-year-old Coronado High School sophomore on May 12, 2021. Agents and Task Force officers with...

EL CAJON, Calif. -- On December 2, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Narcotic Task Force and El Cajon Police Department executed a state search warrant at a warehouse located at 1478 Fayette Street in El Cajon. Investigators uncovered an active and sophisticated hexane hash oil extraction laboratory operation. Additional DEA personnel...

SAN DIEGO – Ernesto Renteria of Chula Vista was sentenced in federal court today to 71 months in custody for distributing more than 100 pounds of deadly fentanyl plus fentanyl analogues, cocaine and methamphetamine. According to his plea agreement, in May 2021, Renteria stored large quantities of the federally controlled...