Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for January 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2025 the government reported 750 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.5 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with narcotics/drugs-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
When monthly 2025 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-21.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 45.8 percent from levels reported in 2020.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions
The decrease from the levels five years ago in narcotics/drugs prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of narcotics/drugs prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Within the broad category of narcotics/drugs, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within narcotics/drugs are
Drug Trafficking
Simple Drug Possession
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
Major Project Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
Other Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in January 2025 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 75.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (23.1%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in January 2025 was DEA accounting for 38 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (24% ), FBI (15%), ATF (11%), Local (5%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2025, 213 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in January the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge for 49.8 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (19.7%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (15.5%), "Other US Code Section" (6.1%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2025, 537 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 198 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during January.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of narcotics/drugs matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 423 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 131 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 67 3 3 3 More 46 USC 70503 - Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US 25 5 6 6 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 17 6 5 5 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 16 7 7 12 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 6 8 47 28 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 9 9 7 More 21 USC 843 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C 4 10 12 9 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846. "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952. "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 1200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 225 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 36.6 percent — was " Firearms; Unlawful acts " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 65.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In January 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 263.4 narcotics/drugs prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of narcotics/drugs prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 narcotics/drugs prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Ala, S 2,071 15 1 78 75 More Cal, S 1,948 56 2 1 1 More Montana 1,695 16 3 38 63 More Wyoming 1,644 8 4 81 88 More Ala, M 903 9 5 66 89 More Idaho 855 14 6 22 44 More Alaska 854 5 7 35 82 More Iowa, S 832 13 8 41 32 More Ken, E 805 15 9 31 29 More N Dakota 765 5 10 74 70 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) — with 2071 prosecutions as compared with 263.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2025.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Montana is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Idaho , now ranked 6th , and Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 22nd and 31st one year ago and 44th and 29th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago — 22.4 percent — was Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 113.3 percent — was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions — 68.6 percent — was Alaska . But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 57.7 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new narcotics/drugs crime cases of this type during January 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Kacsmaryk, Matthew Joseph Texas, N 13 1 More Scriven, Mary Stenson Fla, M 12 2 More Barber, Thomas Patrick Fla, M 10 3 More Montenegro, Ruth Bermudez Cal, S 9 4 More Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 9 4 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 8 6 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 8 6 More Altonaga, Cecilia M. Fla, S 7 8 More Limbaugh, Stephen Nathaniel, Jr. Mo, E 7 8 More Velez-Rive, Camille L. Puer Rico 7 8 More Corker, Clifton Leland Tenn, E 7 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 1 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of narcotics/drugs filings per capita, while the remaining 10 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 13 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Mary Stenson Scriven in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 2nd with 12 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Thomas Patrick Barber in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 3rd with 10 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: March 12, 2025
