Press Releases - all

DEA’s El Paso Division, which covers West Texas and New Mexico, is issuing this safety bulletin to remind the public not to purchase pills or medications from street dealers. Recently DEA El Paso learned that certain pills, which are being sold on the street and have similar markings to legitimate oxycodone pills, are in fact counterfeit pills containing fentanyl.

LUBBOCK, Texas - Sidney Caleb Lanier, 36, and Jamie Marie Robertson, 32, both of Lubbock, Texas, were sentenced this morning before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, announced Clyde E. Shelley, Jr., the Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is releasing an updated video message to law enforcement nationwide about the dangers of handling fentanyl and its deadly consequences. 

Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg and two local police detectives from New Jersey appear on the video to urge law enforcement personnel who come in contact with fentanyl or fentanyl compounds to take the drugs directly to a lab. 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Birmingham man pleaded guilty today in federal court to distributing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid painkiller, that caused the death of a 20-year-old Pelham woman, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey.

WASHINGTON D.C. - China’s National Narcotics Control Commission announced this week that scheduling controls against four fentanyl-class substances - carfentanil, furanyl fentanyl, valeryl fentanyl, and acryl fentanyl - will begin on March 1, 2017.  This announcement is the culmination of ongoing collaboration between the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the Government of China, and reaffirms the shared commitment to countering illicit fentanyl.

WASHINGTON - At the invitation of the China Ministry of Public (MPS), the Drug Enforcement (DEA) Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg visited China this week to discuss issues of mutual concern and to build on DEA’s existing relationship with Chinese counter-narcotics law enforcement authorities.  Rosenberg emphasized the increased cooperation between the DEA and the MPS and recognized China’s actions toward combating global synthetic drug trafficking and illicit money laundering.  He also met with drug control officials in Hong Kong and Bangkok, Thailand.