Latest U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration News

DEA shutting down two offices in China even as agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

Sep. 16, 2024 13:08 PM EDT

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, The Associated Press 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 blamed for the deaths of...

A decision on a major policy shift on marijuana won't come until after the presidential election

Sep. 03, 2024 00:27 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A decision on whether to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. won't come until after the November presidential election, a timeline that raises the chances it could be a potent political issue in the closely contested race. The U.S. Drug...

Authorities in Guyana seize a record $200 million worth of cocaine hidden in a lush jungle

Sep. 01, 2024 17:24 PM EDT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Authorities in the South American country of Guyana said Sunday they have seized more than 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms) of cocaine found in a lush jungle near the border with Venezuela. The land seizure is considered the biggest in recent history, with...

5 members of burglary ring accused of targeting rural Iowa and Nebraska pharmacies, authorities say

Aug. 29, 2024 19:03 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Five members of an alleged burglary ring are facing federal charges for break-ins that targeted rural pharmacies in western Iowa and western Nebraska in 2022 and 2023, authorities announced Thursday. The Omaha, Nebraska, field division of the Drug Enforcement...

Secret DEA files show agents joked about rape in a WhatsApp chat. Then one of them was accused of it

Jul. 25, 2024 22:59 PM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — In a WhatsApp chat that quickly devolved into depravity, a group of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents boasted about their “world debauchery tour” of “boozing and whoring” on the government’s dime. They swapped lurid images of their latest sexual conquests. And at...

Takeaways from AP's investigation into DEA corruption, agent accused of rape

Jul. 25, 2024 10:39 AM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — Thousands of secret law enforcement documents obtained by The Associated Press offer a never-before-seen window into a culture of corruption among U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents who parlayed the agency's shadowy money laundering operations into a worldwide pursuit of...

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear endorses federal effort to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug

Jul. 17, 2024 14:55 PM EDT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Biden administration's push to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug won an endorsement Wednesday from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said “the jury is no longer out” on its medical uses as an alternative to opioids that ravaged the Bluegrass State with...