DEA Reports Historic 2025 Drug Seizures and Extraditions of Mexican Cartel Leaders

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Tuesday that 2025 saw “historic achievements” in drug enforcement, highlighting massive drug seizures and the capture of high-profile targets.

In its report, the DEA said its focus on dismantling Mexican drug cartels, disrupting chemical supply chains, and reducing violence in U.S. cities resulted in the seizure of 47 million fentanyl pills, approximately 4,508 kilograms of fentanyl powder, around 257,490 kilograms of cocaine, about 78,405 kilograms of methamphetamine, and roughly 1,225 kilograms of heroin. The agency stated the amount of fentanyl seized last year equates to 369 million potential lives saved.

“In an effort to achieve a fentanyl-free America, the DEA is exerting unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain through intensified control operations and enhanced intelligence, forcing Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG Cartel, to modify their business practices,” the document added.

During August and September 2025, the DEA focused on those allegedly responsible for bringing lethal fentanyl into the United States, specifically the Sinaloa and CJNG cartels, resulting in drug seizures—included in the previous totals—as well as nearly 1,300 arrests, 664 firearms, almost $30 million in illicit profits, and another $30 million in assets.

The DEA launched Fentanyl Free America in October, a comprehensive control initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl and reaffirming the agency’s commitment to protecting American lives and communities from the devastating effects of the drug, which claimed over 50,000 lives in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), compared to nearly 80,000 lives in 2023. “This is a positive step in the fight against fentanyl,” the report noted.

This has generated encouraging signs of progress. DEA laboratory tests indicate that 29 percent of fentanyl pills analyzed during fiscal year 2025 contained a potentially lethal dose, a significant decrease from the 76 percent of pills analyzed just two years earlier in fiscal year 2023.

Additionally, the purity of fentanyl powder dropped to 10.3 percent, down from 19.5 percent during the same period.

Several DEA targets were brought to the United States to face justice for crimes committed on American soil: the extradition of 29 defendants from Mexico, including Rafael Caro Quintero, allegedly responsible for the 1985 murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, among others; the sentencing of Rubén Oseguera González, alleged leader of the CJNG, to 30 years in federal prison; the sentencing of co-founder of the Los Cuinis drug trafficking organization, José González Valencia, to 30 years in prison; the guilty plea of Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, on drug trafficking charges; and the arrest of 26 fugitives from Mexico, all accused of various federal and state criminal charges, including offenses related to drug trafficking, kidnapping, illegal use of firearms, money laundering, murder, and other crimes.

Among these fugitives was Abigael González Valencia, known as “Cuini,” another alleged leader of the violent Los Cuinis drug trafficking organization.