DEA

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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...

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...

Walmart Sues Feds in Opioid Abuse Battle

Lawsuit is 'pre-emptive strike'

(Newser) - Walmart is suing the US government in a pre-emptive strike in the battle over its responsibility in the opioid abuse crisis. The government is expected to take civil action against the world's largest retailer, seeking big financial penalties, for the role its pharmacies may have played in the crisis...

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...

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 "...

Now a Schedule 1 Drug: CBD Hemp Oil
Now a Schedule 1
Drug: CBD Hemp Oil
Dec 19, 2016 8:15 AM CST

Now a Schedule 1 Drug: CBD Hemp Oil

New DEA regulation may affect those who use it to treat seizures, other medical issues

(Newser) - A cannabidiol hemp oil that Leafly says is used by "hundreds of thousands of patients" in the US for a variety of medical purposes, including to help relieve seizures, has been designated a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA, 7NEWS reports. Schedule 1 drugs (which are illegal and include...

DEA Paid $237M to Random Citizens to Spy on Your Stuff

Possibly violating the Constitution in the process

(Newser) - From 2011 to 2015, the DEA paid about $237 million to 10,000 or so "voluntary" confidential sources to riffle through the luggage and mail of ordinary citizens, BuzzFeed reports. The Department of Justice spent more than two years investigating the system, which is a potential violation of privacy...

DEA Backs Off Herbal Supplement—at Least for Now

Agency soliciting public comments about kratom until December 1

(Newser) - The DEA has backed off a controversial plan to classify the relatively unknown herbal supplement kratom as a Schedule I substance, saying it wants to seek more feedback on the issue, NPR reports. Schedule I substances are classified as dangerous, ripe for abuse, and without recognized medical use—claims that...

Popular Herbal Supplement Will Be Classified Like LSD

DEA is putting kratom on the list of Schedule 1 drugs

(Newser) - Heroin, marijuana, LSD, and ... kratom? The latter is a plant native to southeast Asia, and it's about to join the others on the most restrictive drug classification list in the US. The DEA said this week that kratom—specifically its active ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine—will become a Schedule...

DEA Takes Millions From US Travelers, Often Without Charges

'You've got to feed the monster'

(Newser) - USA Today has discovered that DEA agents routinely seize cash from American travelers without ever arresting, charging, or sometimes even questioning them. Further, this practice has become integral to the DEA's budget. “Basically, you’ve got to feed the monster," a former DEA supervisor says. Over...

Sources: Pot Will Remain a Schedule I Drug

DEA to make an announcement Thursday

(Newser) - Marijuana is a Schedule I drug and it's going to stay that way, sources tell NPR and the Washington Post in advance of the Drug Enforcement Administration's announcement Thursday on the subject. Some five years ago, two Democratic governors petitioned the agency to rebrand the drug as one...

Judge: No, Your Cellphone Can't Be Used to Track You

First time a federal judge has thrown out evidence culled thanks to 'stingray' device

(Newser) - A surveillance device that "tricks" cellphones into revealing their location has been a civil rights concern since it debuted. Now, for the first time, a federal judge agrees that using such a tool to ID a suspect's home without a warrant is an "unreasonable" violation of the...

'Adorable' Suspected Drug Dealer Has DEA Agent Dad

Maybe she was smiling because she appreciates irony

(Newser) - It turns out the 19-year-old college student dubbed an "adorable drug kingpin" by the media is also the daughter of a veteran DEA agent, Death and Taxes reports. According to the Houston Chronicle , Sarah Furay was arrested in Texas last month after police allegedly found a good amount of...

DEA Chief in Hot Water After Calling Medical Pot a 'Joke'

7 lawmakers and 100K signatures call for his removal

(Newser) - Medical marijuana supporters aren't joking; they want new DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg replaced now, Extract reports. Rosenberg has been in hot water with cannabis fans since calling medical marijuana a "joke" earlier this month. He also hedged on whether pot is safer than heroin. On Friday, Marijuana Majority...

New DEA Chief: Pot 'Probably Not' as Dangerous as Heroin

But 'I'm no expert,' Chuck Rosenberg adds

(Newser) - Marijuana advocates celebrated when DEA head Michele Leonhart stepped down , with a rep for the Marijuana Policy Project telling Bloomberg , that Leonhart held up an era of "Reefer Madness" at the DEA and "maintained an opinion about marijuana akin to the opinion people had back in the '...

No Crime? No Problem. DEA Nabs Guy's Life Savings

Joseph Rivers fighting $16K seizure under civil forfeiture laws

(Newser) - Last month, Joseph Rivers boarded a Michigan train bound for Los Angeles with $16,000 in cash and a dream of making a music video. Instead, DEA agents, who asked to search Rivers' bags during a stop in New Mexico, seized his life savings still in a bank envelope, suspecting...

US Tracked Billions of Calls Long Before 9/11
US Tracked Billions of Calls Long Before 9/11
investigation
Apr 8, 2015 4:24 PM CDT

US Tracked Billions of Calls Long Before 9/11

USA Today: DEA, Justice Department collected data for 20 years

(Newser) - Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA and its surveillance tactics may have riled people up, but the agency apparently took its cue from two other government departments: the DEA and the DoJ. For almost 10 years before 9/11 took place, the agencies secretly kept records of billions of international...

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