If you have unused or expired prescription drugs taking up space in your home, Saturday is the perfect time for a purge.

A recent Drug Enforcement Administration report paints a grim picture of what is happening with dangerous drugs and guns on the streets and an increase in children ending up in the hospital.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office has been working to crack down and remove illegal drugs from the streets.

Following the Drug Enforcement Administration’s push to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, News4JAX is looking into what the change could mean and impact the industry in Florida.

U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey will join the Special Agents in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI at a presser to provide information about a significant law enforcement operation in San Francisco.

Oil prices are creeping higher and raising concerns about the impact on inflation’s cooling trajectory, consumers’ wallets and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.

A long-term drug bust investigation led to the arrest of multiple people accused of distributing several kilos of fentanyl in Volusia County.

Falling crude oil prices and lingering worries about the global economy have been sapping power from energy stocks throughout 2023.

For the first time in U.S. history, the White House has declared a drug to be an emerging threat to the United States. The DEA says Xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer is being used with the synthetic opioid fentanyl, and the results are deadly.

Several Floridians were arrested and indicted in a year-long drug trafficking investigation called “Operation Ice Man,” according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced Friday the results of a yearlong operation called “Operation Last Mile,” which targeted the distribution of drugs in America.

For the first time in U.S. history, the White House has declared a drug to be an emerging threat to the United States. The DEA says Xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer, is being used with the synthetic opioid fentanyl, and the results are deadly.

Former Nassau County Sheriff’s Office sergeant who is facing a federal charge of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute is to be indicted by a grand jury Thursday afternoon.

The I-TEAM has been digging into the allegations against a former Nassau County Sergeant, who was also a DEA task force officer, and found possible ties to another drug investigation resulting in the arrest of a longtime Florida Highway Patrol trooper.

A former Nassau County Sheriff’s Office deputy is facing federal drug charges following an FBI investigation into drug trafficking.

The Atlanta DEA division on Wednesday spoke about the latest drug threats and trends impacting Southeastern Georgia, including stealthy ways dealers are smuggling narcotics.

The Mexican military has captured a son of the imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

“Operation Decrypted,” a four-month investigation by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and other partnering agencies, targeted a major drug trafficking organization in Jacksonville, and it resulted in arrests across the country, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

For years, naloxone, which is also sold under the commonly-known brand name Narcan, has been used to reverse the effects of a life-threatening opioid overdose.

The Biden administration has announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complicated scheme to procure military technologies from U.S. manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

The drug has become a central part of the immigration debate nationally.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a nationwide warning over what it’s referring to as “rainbow fentanyl,” which as the name implies, is brightly colored and appears to resemble hard candy.

A Jacksonville pharmacist and a former pharmacy owner were sentenced after they both pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges related to a federal pill mill investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said Friday.

Recent mass overdoses in Florida have the Drug Enforcement Administration sounding the alarm.

A Mexican judge's ruling means the extradition of drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, captured in the mountains of northwest Mexico, will not happen quickly.

Multiple law enforcement agencies combined recently to seize more than 230 pounds of illegal marijuana during two separate traffic stops in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia.

The News4JAX I-TEAM has learned new information about the investigation into the drug overdose deaths of two Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay officers back in 2017.

Since the "One Pill Can Kill" campaign began, federal agents who gather intel on drug distribution have been working behind the scenes to decode emojis found in both social media and text communications between drug dealers and young people.

A three-month investigation disrupted a Georgia-to-New York gun trafficking pipeline and resulted in the seizure of 25 guns, including five assault weapons, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, which said the guns and a quantity of cocaine were sold to an undercover officer.

If you have leftover or unwanted prescription medication sitting in your medicine cabinet, you can safely dispose of it Saturday during the DEA’s National Drug Take Back Day.

COVID-19 infections aren’t the only things parents have to worry about now that kids are back in school for a new school year.

When people think of the Drug Enforcement Administration, they may envision undercover federal agents infiltrating major drug operations. They may also conjure up mental images of heavily armed federal law enforcement officers raiding a drug house in the United States or arresting a drug warlord abroad. But most people may not realize that behind the scenes, there is a scientific component of the DEA that is also on the frontlines when it comes to the war on drugs.

The suspect arrested Wednesday after federal agents said they found 46 pounds of hydroponic marijuana at the Jacksonville Amtrak Station has been identified.

Federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration Jacksonville District Office on Wednesday seized 46 pounds of hydroponic marijuana that were smuggled into Jacksonville on an Amtrak train from New York.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is issuing a warning for parents to closely monitor their children’s social media activity.

A man who was driving recklessly was pulled over during the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has now launched Operation Engage. DEA’s Miami Field Division Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jonathon White says Operation Engage will focus on preventing opioid overdoses. “So, Operation Engage, the timing couldn’t be more critical.”DEA Special Agent Amy Roderick is currently coordinating Operation Engage. Operation Engage started in South Florida and will eventually make its way to the northeastern part of the state. And just days after the DEA rolled out Operation Engage, DEA Acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans on Tuesday announced the release of the 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday warned that scammers are pretending to be DEA agents in an attempt to steal money and personal information. The DEA released audio of a phone conversation between a scammer impersonating a DEA agent and a man. But the scammer learned during the call that an actual DEA agent was listening to the conversation. “Sir, this is the DEA,” a DEA special agent says. “They’re using trunk numbers or numbers disguised as other locations when they’re making these phone calls,” Dubet explained.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Mexican Navy helped the Drug Enforcement Administration seize 2.5 tons of meth and 100,000 fentanyl pills that were on the way to the United States. “Let’s say if 10% of that went to Atlanta, which would be about 500 pounds, and then you take 1% of that shipment coming to Jacksonville, it’s 50 pounds of meth,” Dubet said. “Fifty pounds of meth to the Jacksonville area would supply not only Jacksonville but the surrounding counties for several weeks.”AdThat meth and fentanyl could lead to potentially fatal overdoses. “Whenever you have large amounts of money and people fighting for territory, that’s where the violence comes out,” Dubet said. If convicted, the two Mexican nationals face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in U.S. federal prison.

Miami-Dade County officers Roderick Flowers and Keith Edwards Jr. are charged federally with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. Hernandez met several times with the DEA source, laundering more than $100,000 and investing in cocaine shipments, the DEA alleges. By September, the source told Hernandez he needed protection to move a shipment of cocaine between two spots in South Florida and asked if his officers would do it, records show. The DEA says Flowers met with the source at Hernandez's office in Sept. 9. The source met with another undercover agent, who gave him 10 kilograms of sham cocaine in a suitcase.

The goal is to educate the community on the risk of opioid misuse while providing a safe and anonymous way to dispose of left-over medications. The event will be held from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at the following locations:Memorial Hospital Medical Office Building – 3627 University Blvd. S. Jacksonville, FL 32216Memorial Emergency Room Julington Creek –42 Doctors Village Dr. Saint Johns, FL 32259Orange Park Medical Center Emergency Room – 2001 Kingsley Avenue Orange Park, FL 32073Normandy Park ER – 5773 Normandy Blvd. “More than half of people who misuse opioid medications say they obtained them from someone they know," Dr. Fred Jenkins, Emergency Room Physician and Medical Director at Memorial Hospital said. “HCA Healthcare is committed to bringing frontline solutions to curb the tide of opioid misuse and addiction in the communities that we serve,” Dr. Jenkins said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two weeks after Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy Shea visited Florida and spent time talking with Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams about violent crime in the city, the DEA has announced the launch of Project Safeguard. It’s a violent crime reduction initiative that allows the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and federal marshals to partner with local police to go after violent offenders -- especially since the DEA says many of the violent crimes in Jacksonville are linked to illegal narcotics trafficking. Police in 41 cities throughout Florida are taking part in Project Safeguard. Only time will tell if the initiative reduces violent crime throughout the state. Project Safeguard is being deployed in other areas of the country such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

DEA head addresses drug-related violence during Jacksonville visitPublished: October 7, 2020, 11:35 pmThe Drug Enforcement Agency’s top cop who oversees all operations in both the U.S. and abroad was in Jacksonville to meet with Sheriff Mike Williams.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy Shea warned Tuesday that the eventual lifting of coronavirus restrictions could bring a flood of methamphetamine and other narcotics from Mexico into the United States. Shea met in Tallahassee with federal, state and local law-enforcement officials from North Florida and Attorney General Ashley Moody. But Shea expects that will change with development of a vaccine for the virus and the eventual lifting of restrictions. “Virtually all of the methamphetamine and much of the fentanyl in this country comes from Mexico,” Shea said. “These drugs are manufactured on an industrial scale in Mexico using precursor chemicals from China and then smuggled across the border and distributed to every state in the country.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A police officer was shot Monday morning while assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration in serving a high-risk search warrant in a neighborhood off Moncrief Road, authorities said. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT team member was released from the hospital within hours and is recovering at home, Sheriff Mike Williams said. Williams said the veteran officer was hit several times, but the shots landed on his ballistics vest, and the officer managed to return fire. “When you ask for the SWAT team, you’re talking about a high-profile takedown," Jefferson said. The sheriff said SWAT officers spend 20-30% of their on-duty time training to prepare them for high-risk situations.

DEA warning about scammers impersonating agentsPublished: July 29, 2020, 11:19 pmJacksonville agent says he was targeted by scammer who called his cellphone.

Rader was the 11th member of the drug distribution ring to be convicted and sentenced in federal court. After the prescription drugs left the pharmacy, according to investigators, they were then sold on the streets of both Duval and Nassau counties. Full Screen 1 / 5 Pharmacy surveillanceNassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said when they joined “Operation Bad Employee,” they learned that one of the recruiters for the drug distribution operation lived and operated out of Nassau County. Leeper went on to say “Operation Bad Employee” may have put a dent in the ongoing opioid problem in Nassau County. Although “Operation Bad Employee” began in 2016, it is still an ongoing investigation, which means there could be more arrests.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Guns, drugs and stolen property were all seized in a federal raid this week on Jacksonville’s Westside. The raid was part of a six-month sting that Drug Enforcement Administration agents dubbed “Operation Python,” in which millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs have been taken off the streets. At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, DEA agents served a search warrant at the Westside home. Full Screen 1 / 13 Operation PythonTuesday’s raid was part of the national DEA investigation called Operation Python. Though Operation Python officially ended Wednesday afternoon, Dubet told News4Jax that he believes Miller’s arrest will lead to identifying more suspects locally.

Meth trafficking, control an overwhelming problem, DEA saysPublished: February 3, 2020, 11:17 pmDespite being smuggled thousands of miles, when meth arrives in Northeast Florida, it’s still 100% pure, according to special agent

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Drug Enforcement Agency recently released its 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment, which outlines threats posed by illegal drugs and drug traffickers. According to what’s in the report, while there has been a 13% decline in opioid overdoses across the United States, methamphetamine trafficking and usage continues to be an overwhelming problem for law enforcement. DEA Special Agent in Charge Mike Dubet said the cartels are flooding Florida streets with crystal meth, especially Northeast Florida. According to the recent DEA threat assessment, Mexican drug cartels are mass producing major quantities of meth at alarming rates. READ: 2019 DEA National Drug Threat AssessmentAnd there’s another trend that’s been studied during the last three years.

Medicate: For some people, being physically active and leading a healthy life isn't enough to get down to the 120 mark. These people, possibly because they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure, may need to take more bloodColumbia County residents who need to safely and properly dispose of unwanted, expired or unused medication will have a chance Oct. 26, thanks to the Sheriff's Office. Deputies will accept meds at two locations in the area, and they will be disposed of by the DEA. Each year the Sheriff's Office partners with the DEA, Youth Advocacy Partnership and Cheek and Scott to rid the community of these drugs. S Hwy 90 in Lake CityCopyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.