Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for January 2026
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2026 the government reported 735 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.4 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 2026 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-9.5%). 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 37.6 percent from levels reported in 2021.
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 2026 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 91.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (8.6%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in January 2026 was DEA accounting for 37 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: FBI (20% ), DHS (19%), ATF (12%), Local (4%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In January 2026, 242 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 52.5 percent of all magistrate filings in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (21.9%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (18.6%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2026, 493 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January there were an additional 192 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 2026.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 417 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 156 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 45 3 3 3 More 21 USC 963 - Attempt and conspiracy 10 5 8 8 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 9 6 5 6 More 21 USC 848 - Continuing criminal enterprise 4 7 16 - More 21 USC 960 - Prohibited acts A 4 7 39 17 More 18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties 3 9 17 15 More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 3 9 7 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 1300 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 960 that involves " Prohibited acts A ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 27.3 % — 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 53.3 percent — was " Firearms; Penalties " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 63.4 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 2026 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 241.7 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 D. C. 2,563 15 1 83 88 More Alaska 1,861 11 2 79 86 More Montana 1,794 17 3 26 70 More W Virg, N 1,547 12 4 39 8 More Cal, S 1,379 40 5 1 1 More Wyoming 1,225 6 6 79 80 More Mo, E 983 24 7 11 10 More Iowa, S 883 14 8 28 27 More N Dakota 753 5 9 42 68 More Ken, W 722 14 10 33 83 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 2563 prosecutions as compared with 241.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during January 2026.
The District of Alaska ranked 2nd.
District of Montana is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 7th , and Montana at 3rd In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 26th one year ago and 10th and 70th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago — 94.4 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 230 percent — was Western District of Kentucky (Louisville).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions — 50 percent — was North Dakota . But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 64.3 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 2026 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Kacsmaryk, Matthew Joseph Texas, N 10 1 More Gleason, Sharon Louise Alaska 9 2 More Kelly, Timothy James D. C. 9 2 More Marbley, Algenon L. Ohio, S 9 2 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 7 5 More Pepper, Pamela Wisc, E 7 5 More Montenegro, Ruth Bermudez Cal, S 6 7 More Hale, David Jason Ken, W 6 7 More Kernodle, Jeremy Daniel Texas, E 6 7 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 6 7 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 4 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 6 judges were from other districts.
Judge Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) ranked 1st with 10 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judges Sharon Louise Gleason in the District of Alaska, Timothy James Kelly in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and Algenon L. Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati) ranked 2nd with 9 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: April 16, 2026
