Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions for July 2025
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2025 the government reported 894 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 18.9 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 (-11%). 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 16.3 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 July 2025 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 81.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (18%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in July 2025 was DEA accounting for 38 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were: DHS (24% ), FBI (18%), ATF (9%), Local (4%). See Figure 3.
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2025, 297 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 July 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 48.1 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances" (30.3%), "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" (12.8%), "Other US Code Section" (5.4%).
Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2025, 597 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 327 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 July.
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 July 2025.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 487 1 1 1 More 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy 243 2 2 2 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 97 3 3 3 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 23 5 5 5 More 18 USC 1962 - RICO - prohibited activities 10 6 15 25 More 28 USC 1826 - Recalcitrant witnesses 6 7 - - More 18 USC 1956 - Laundering of monetary instruments 5 8 9 8 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 4 9 23 - More 18 USC 1201 - Kidnaping 4 9 52 - More 18 USC 1791 - Providing or possessing contraband in prison 4 9 10 21 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 1400 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1201 that involves " Kidnaping ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 525 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Providing or possessing contraband in prison " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1791 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 39.8 percent — was "Other US Code Section " (Title U.S.C Section ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 54.3 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 July 2025 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 331.1 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 Cal, S 2,923 84 1 1 1 More Ala, M 2,408 24 2 65 75 More Miss, N 1,760 16 3 49 92 More Montana 1,483 14 4 29 30 More Mo, E 1,401 34 5 14 17 More Ken, E 1,395 26 6 25 21 More Okla, N 1,300 12 7 29 75 More W Virg, S 1,280 9 8 67 49 More N Mexico 1,192 21 9 41 16 More N Dakota 1,072 7 10 47 55 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The Southern District of California (San Diego) — with 2923 prosecutions as compared with 331.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during July 2025. 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.
The Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) ranked 2nd.
Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford) is now ranking 3rd.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), now ranked 5th , and Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington) at 6th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 25th one year ago and 17th and 21st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago — 53.7 percent — was Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 2500 percent — was Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions — 50.9 percent — was Northern District of Mississippi (Oxford). But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 56.1 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 July 2025 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Thurston, Jennifer L. Cal, E 37 1 252 - More Velez-Rive, Camille L. Puer Rico 22 2 56 - More Merryday, Steven Douglas Fla, M 15 3 96 172 More Aycock, Sharion Miss, N 13 4 224 - More Ranjan, J. Nicholas Penn, W 13 4 407 376 More Watters, Susan Pamela Montana 11 6 28 52 More Schydlower, Leon Texas, W 11 6 28 - More Alston, Rossie David, Jr. Virg, E 10 8 224 155 More Sippel, Rodney W. Mo, E 9 9 407 273 More Scriven, Mary Stenson Fla, M 8 10 87 25 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 3 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 7 judges were from other districts.
Judge Jennifer L. Thurston in the Eastern District of California (Sacramento) ranked 1st with 37 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Camille L. Velez-Rive in the District of Puerto Rico ranked 2nd with 22 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Steven Douglas Merryday in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) ranked 3rd with 15 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Report Generated: September 25, 2025
