Drug Enforcement Administration

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Money Launderer Flips, Swipes $150K From DEA

Daniel Shaun Zilke sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

(Newser) - A man accused of laundering millions of dollars for drug traffickers flipped to informant, only to steal $150,000 from the Drug Enforcement Administration, federal prosecutors say. Known as "The Englishman," Daniel Shaun Zilke, 49, of Mexico City, allegedly oversaw money laundering operations for drug cartels across the...

DEA to Close 2 of Its 'Hard-Won' Offices in China

Move comes even as agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

(Newser) - The US Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, the AP has learned—a move that comes even as the agency struggles to disrupt the flow of precursor chemicals from the country that have fueled a fentanyl epidemic in the US. "These closings...

Inmate's 'Relentless' Meth Operation Gets Him 27 More Years

Mexican gang member David 'Toro' Zavala is busted for running drug distribution from prison

(Newser) - A Mexican gang member already serving time in Georgia just got hit with a lot more time for distributing methamphetamine from behind bars. The Athens Banner-Herald reports that 30-year-old David "Toro" Zavala, who federal agents say is a known member of the Surenos 13 gang, received his additional prison...

Health Dept. on Marijuana: It Shouldn't Be a Schedule I Drug

Recommendation has been passed to the Drug Enforcement Administration

(Newser) - The US Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on X that the agency has responded...

US Bolsters Post on Fentanyl in Pharmacy Pills Sold in Mexico

Victim's family has tried to get agencies to act since overdose in 2019

(Newser) - The State Department has strengthened its cautioning about pharmacies in Mexico selling counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, warning that the doses can be fatal. The alert was posted Friday, per the AP , mentioning stores for the first time. "Counterfeit pills are readily advertised on social media and can be...

DEA Ousted Mexico Chief Over Ties to Drug Lawyers

Nicholas Palmeri tried to expense his own birthday party

(Newser) - The Drug Enforcement Administration quietly removed its top official in Mexico last year over improper contact with lawyers for narcotraffickers, an embarrassing end to a brief tenure marked by deteriorating cooperation between the countries and a record flow of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl across the border. Nicholas Palmeri's socializing...

DEA's Most Corrupt Agent: I Didn't Act Alone

Jose Irizarry on how he turned the 'unwinnable' drug war into 'a very fun game'

(Newser) - José Irizarry accepts that he's known as the most corrupt agent in Drug Enforcement Administration history, admitting he "became another man" in conspiring with Colombian cartels to build a lavish lifestyle of expensive sports cars, Tiffany jewels, and paramours around the world. But as he used his final...

Suspect Got Away After Huge Fentanyl Seizure

He promised to lead DEA agents to drug kingpins but removed tracking device

(Newser) - In July, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Colorado boasted about seizing 114 pounds of pure fentanyl in the biggest-ever seizure of the deadly synthetic opioid on a US highway—but they were quieter about what happened to the alleged drug mule. The suspect, 27-year-old David Maldonado, agreed to cooperate with...

She Thought She Was Training to Be DEA Agent. Cops Say It Was All a Dupe

Man now facing federal charges for impersonating narcotics agent

(Newser) - An Oregon woman trained to be a DEA agent for a year ... with a man who, police say, was an impostor. His strange alleged scheme unraveled last week when a sergeant with the Portland Police Bureau saw the man and woman standing near a silver Dodge Charger with red and...

Drugs Found Before DEA Agent Was Killed on Train

Gunman also was killed in the gunfire, Tucson police say

(Newser) - Update: In advance of the deadly shooting Monday on an Amtrak train in Arizona, DEA agents searched bags associated with one passenger and found 2.39 kilograms of marijuana, 50 packages of marijuana edibles and "other marijuana and cannabis products," per the court documents. CNN reports they allegedly...

Report Details 'Wild' Aftermath of Haiti Assassination

CNN has a special report on the hunt for the suspected killers

(Newser) - As a five-car convoy left the palace of Haiti President Jovenel Moise in the early hours of Wednesday, its inhabitants perhaps thought they'd gotten away with murder. But just down the road, they came up against a blockade, which forced them to flee on foot, leaving behind guns and...

Ex-Mexico Army Chief Arrested in Los Angeles

General is accused of drug trafficking, money laundering

(Newser) - Former Mexican defense secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, who led the country’s army for six years under ex-President Enrique Peña Nieto, has been arrested on drug trafficking and money laundering charges at Los Angeles International Airport, US and Mexican sources told the AP Thursday. Two people with knowledge of...

DEA Agent Hit With 19 Counts in 'Black Eye' to Agency

Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday

(Newser) - A once-standout US federal narcotics agent known for spending lavishly on luxury cars and Tiffany jewelry has been arrested on charges of conspiring to launder money with the same Colombian drug cartel he was supposed to be fighting, the AP reports. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at...

Guy Who Spent $540 on Girl Scout Cookies Arrested by DEA

SC man had been under surveillance for months

(Newser) - So much for that feel-good story: The Drug Enforcement Administration says it has arrested Detric Lee McGowan, the South Carolina man who spent $540 on cookies to get a group of Girl Scouts out of the cold. Investigators say the 46-year-old could afford to be generous: He was allegedly involved...

2 Dead After Warehouse Drug Sting
2 Dead After
Warehouse
Drug Sting
Nov 30, 2018 12:07 AM CST

2 Dead After Warehouse Drug Sting

One Houston suspect fled, hid in a quarry

(Newser) - It was a scene that could have been taken from countless TV dramas: Nine armed gang members arrived for a drug deal at a warehouse Wednesday night, only to discover they had been set up by undercover officers in a sting operation. Police in Houston say two of the suspects...

Record-Breaking Drug OD Deaths in US Last Year

200 people died per day in US in 2017, per the DEA

(Newser) - Drug overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the US last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the DEA. Most of that was the result of a record number of opioid-related deaths. Preliminary figures show more than 72,000 people...

White House: Death Penalty Will Be Part of Opioid Response

But trafficking in fentanyl won't be a capital crime

(Newser) - The White House has rolled out the "more nuanced" response to the opioid crisis it promised after President Trump talked about executing drug dealers earlier this month. The revised plan White House officials discussed Sunday still involves the death penalty, but officials say they don't plan to make...

DEA Head Said to Be Dissatisfied With Trump, Is Resigning

Chuck Rosenberg is leaving Oct. 1

(Newser) - The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration is resigning—apparently over dissatisfaction with President Trump. Law enforcement officials tell the New York Times that Chuck Rosenberg has come to believe Trump lacks proper respect for the law. Rosenberg, a former prosecutor, is one of many career law-enforcement officials said...

DEA Takes Billions From People It Never Charged

A new report finds problems with civil asset forfeiture

(Newser) - Since 2007, the DEA has seized a total of $3.2 billion in cash from people suspected of being involved in the drug trade but never charged with a crime, the Washington Post reports. That statistic comes from a Department of Justice watchdog's report released Wednesday. According to the...

The History of Why the Feds Spell Pot 'Marihuana'

Plant formerly known as cannabis got a new name thanks to Spanish-American War

(Newser) - The Washington Post wades through the weeds to get the linguistic scoop on weed—specifically, why an "archaic" spelling of marijuana is still in use. A Federal Register post last week announcing that CBD hemp oil is now considered a Schedule 1 drug offered a new code for "...

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