May 01, 2018
The Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA Educational Foundation and Discovery Education Announce 10 National Finalists for Second Annual ‘Operation Prevention’ Video Challenge
Teen Video Challenge to promote peer-to-peer dialogue about dangers of opioid misuse, award $10,000 grand prize and exclusive tour of DEA Training Academy
April 27, 2018
DEA Educational Foundation hosts "Understanding the Opioid Epidemic: A Call to Action" in Baltimore
The DEA Educational Foundation joined the Maryland Opioid Operational Command Center, state and local partners, and the business community to address the impact of Maryland’s opioid crisis, and to discuss ways to coordinate and build a coalition of leaders to fight the heroin and opioid crisis.
December 01, 2017
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Discovery Education and the DEA Educational Foundation Launch Second Annual Operation Prevention Video Challenge for High School Students Nationwide
-- ‘Operation Prevention Video Challenge’ Encourages Teens to Submit Video Public Service Announcements to Educate their Peers on the State of the Opioid Epidemic --
November 16, 2017
Board Member Peter Bensigner receives Lifetime Achiement Award from Chicago Crime Commission
Chicago Crime Commission honors outstanding crime fighters; U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to keynote the event; Former DEA Administrator Bensinger to receive lifetime achievement award
"Congratulations to Michael Mann, the consummate filmmaker. Thank you for your outstanding efforts in accurately depicting DEA in your work," said Bill Alden, Chairman, Board of Directors
October 27, 2017
DEA Educational Foundation elects Lewis Rice, Jr to the Board of Directors
“Congratulations to Lew Rice for being elected to the DEA Education Foundation Board of Directors. Lew’s experience combined with his passion for helping others make him a welcome addition to the Board," said Board Chairman Bill Alden who added that Mr. Rice told him, "DEA is family and it would be an honor for me to be on the DEA Educational Foundation Board.”
October 24, 2017
Drug Enforcement Administration and Discovery Education Join Forces With Milken Institute to Announce Drug Prevention Call To Action At 2017 Future of Health Summit
– Milken Institute Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Public Health to support Operation Prevention in campaign to provide millions of students in 50 states immediate access to no-cost English- and Spanish-Language prevention resources on opioid epidemic –
– Education, business and media organizations announce pledge to promote the comprehensive youth engagement and education program –
(Washington, D.C. – Tuesday, October 24, 2017) To combat America’s rapidly growing opioid and heroin epidemic, the Milken Institute’s Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Public Health is joining forces with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), DEA Educational Foundation and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, to expand the reach of Operation Prevention – a national, standards-based initiative developed to educate students, families, and employees about the science behind opioids, and their impact on the brain and body. Since launching in October of 2016, Operation Prevention’s immersive English-and Spanish-language tools have reached more than one million young people ages 8 to18.
“Operation Prevention’s mission to educate youth will make a meaningful contribution to the future of our nation’s health. The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Public Health at the Milken Institute is pleased to be a part of the call to action to expand access to and awareness of prevention resources for communities,” said Ed Greissing, executive director, Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Public Health, Milken Institute. “This collaboration builds on the Institute’s efforts to extend life, and promote health and wellness at all ages, by using the most effective strategies to empower people in America and across the globe.”
The DEA, Discovery Education and the Milken Institute Center for Public Health will expand the reach of this program to millions more young people, and will be joined by a combined network of educators, advocacy organizations, businesses, think-tanks, and philanthropic institutions in all 50 states. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance and Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Education have contributed content, insights, and best practices to the development of Operation Prevention.
“This is an unprecedented epidemic – its growing and its growing fast. The United States makes up just five percent of the world’s population, but consumes the vast majority of the world’s hydrocodone. That said, it’s not surprising that opioids account for roughly three-fifths of all drug overdoses in the nation,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “We’re proud of the fact that Operation Preventionis a free, science-based education tool for students, teachers, and parents. In collaboration with Discovery Education, the Milken Institute, and other key organizations, we are able to make the opioid epidemic understandable for students by teaching them the science behind addiction."
Requiring no local sponsorship or corporate underwriting to activate, Operation Prevention is available for use today in every school, afterschool and community-based program in the United States. A comprehensive youth initiative, Operation Prevention combines virtual field trips, parent resources, digital tools, and a nationwide peer-to-peer video challenge that encourages teens to create 30-60 second original public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs are designed to engage students in life-saving conversations about the science of addiction.
The DEA tapped Discovery Education to help activate Operation Prevention in local communities through the Discovery Education Community, the largest professional learning community of its kind. In addition, Operation Prevention is also accessible through Discovery Education’s Streaming services.
“Today marks an important milestone in the work of Operation Prevention as we join forces with the Milken Institute, and leading education and business advocacy organizations, to further ignite lifesaving conversations in classrooms and communities nationwide," said Lori McFarling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Discovery Education. "We are proud to have been selected as the DEA's national education partner and look forward to collaborating with the organizations announced today, and others in the weeks ahead, to reach every student, every classroom, and every community, as we endeavor to eliminate opioid misuse in our country."
According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), there were 11.8 million people aged 12 or older who misused opioids in the past year. More than 11 million pain reliever misusers and 948,000 heroin users have been impacted by the epidemic, and one in five teens say they have used prescription medicine at least once in their lifetime to get high.
Discovery Communications, parent company of Discovery Education, announced today it will airOperation Prevention PSAs across its national networks to further magnify the importance of understanding the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
In addition, the following organizations have committed to joining Operation Prevention’s efforts to help initiate life-saving conversations about drug-free living:
Afterschool Alliance: The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality afterschool programs. The Alliance works with a broad range of organizations, supporters, and afterschool stakeholders, including: policymakers and policymaker associations, advocacy groups, afterschool coalitions, the 50 state afterschool networks, and more than 25,000 afterschool programs across the nation.
CECP “The CEO Force for Good”: CECP is a CEO-led coalition that believes that a company’s social strategy – how it engages with key stakeholders including employees, communities, investors, and customers – determines company success. The organization helps companies transform their social strategy by providing customized connections and networking, counsel and support, benchmarking and trends, and awareness building and recognition.
National Association for Secondary School Principals (NASSP): NASSP is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student.
Social Innovation Summit (SIS): Operating at the nexus of technology, investment, philanthropy, international development, and business, SIS brings together the world’s most potent leaders, thinkers, and practitioners to catalyze inspired partnerships that will disrupt history. At the organization’s Global Summit and throughout the year, SIS’ community of thinkers comes together not just to talk about the next big thing – but to build it.
The School Superintendents Association (AASA): AASA is the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and throughout the world. AASA’s mission is to support and develop effective school system leaders who are dedicated to the highest quality public education for all children.
“With the vast number of teens and adults affected by the current opioid crisis, I am gratified to see this partnership formed between the DEA, the DEA Educational Foundation, Discovery Education, and the Milken Institute,” said EJ Milken, DEA Educational Foundation, Board of Directors. “This collaboration to promote Operation Prevention will bring solid, science-based information to communities, and help the next generation make informed and healthy decisions."
Tomorrow, October 25, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, Operation Prevention will launch “On the Frontlines of the Opioid Epidemic: A Community Fighting Back,” an engaging virtual field trip where students from across the country will visit Huntington, West Virginia, to hear powerful personal stories from brave teens and change makers in the city. The immersive experience will be livestreamed from operationprevention.com and sciencechannel.com.
Drug-free living forums and conversations will also kick off in 2018 in a number of cities nationwide, including: Charlotte, North Carolina; Santa Rosa, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Los Angeles, California. This effort will connect communities to the Operation Prevention work already underway to address this national crisis. Events will encourage individuals and organizations to take a pledge to combat opioid abuse.
For more information and to take the pledge to share Operation Prevention, visit here.
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October 23, 2017
DEA Publishes the 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment
"The National Drug Threat Assessment is a critical tool for all in drug law enforcement as well as those in the drug abuse prevention field," said Kevin Hartmann, President of the DEA Educational Foundation, "I applaud DEA for their hard work on this publication."
September 14, 2017
DEA report states that increase in cocaine production poses a threat the United States
“We can’t let down our guard,” says Kevin Hartmann, President of the DEA Educational Foundation, about DEA’s most recent report highlighting the spike in cocaine production. “While it is appropriate to focus resources on the current opioid epidemic, we cannot forget about the very addictive stimulant,” says Hartmann.
August 30, 2017
DEA Educational Foundation congratulates DEA’s Bilateral Investigations Unit
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and DEA Special Operations Division Agent in Charge Ray Donovan have announced the provisional arrest in London of Muhammad Asif Hafeez, aka “Sultan” based on a grand jury indictment alleging the trafficking multi-ton quantities of heroin and methamphetamine.“We applaud the latest success of DEA’s Special Operations Division and their tireless pursuit of international drug-traffickers,” said Kevin Hartmann, DEA Educational Foundation, President.
See the DOJ press release below:
August 25, 2017
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
(202) 307-7977
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney and DEA announce provisional arrest in London of Pakistani National for drug-trafficking on a massive scale
(MANHATTAN, N.Y.) – Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Raymond Donovan, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that Muhammad Asif Hafeez, aka “Sultan,” was provisionally arrested in London pursuant to charges filed in the Southern District of New York, which were unsealed today, based on Hafeez’s participation in drug-trafficking activities involving large, and in some instances multi-ton, quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and methamphetamine precursor chemicals. The United States plans to seek Hafeez’s extradition from the United Kingdom.
“The arrest of Muhammad Asif Hafeez is another win in the fight against global criminals and one of DEA’s priority targets,” said DEA Special Operations Division Special Agent-in-Charge Raymond Donovan. “He has been allegedly linked to a transnational criminal organization responsible for manufacturing and distributing ton quantities of narcotics. Removing criminals like Hafeez benefits not just the citizens of London, but communities worldwide.”
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said, “As alleged, Muhammad Asif Hafeez, a long-time, priority target of the DEA known as the ‘Sultan,’ trafficked in drugs on a massive and global scale, working with transnational criminal organizations to manufacture and distribute enormous quantities of heroin and methamphetamine around the world and into the United States. From Kenya and Mozambique to London and New York, Hafeez’s alleged drug operation saw no borders or boundaries – until now. Thanks to the unwavering commitment of the DEA and the prosecutors in this Office, the ‘Sultan’ has been caught and will have to face American narcotics charges.”
According to the allegations contained in S5 and S7 Superseding Indictments filed in Manhattan federal court charging Hafeez and certain of his co-conspirators:
From 2013 through the date of his provisional arrest, Hafeez conspired to import methamphetamine into the United States. In connection with this conspiracy, Hafeez and certain of his co-conspirators sought to establish a methamphetamine-production facility in Mozambique. But Hafeez and his co-conspirators were forced to abandon their plan after law enforcement authorities seized approximately 18 tons of ephedrine from a factory in Solapur, India, including several tons of ephedrine that Hafeez and his co-conspirators planned to use as a precursor chemical to manufacture methamphetamine in Mozambique.
Hafeez is also charged with participating in a conspiracy with co-defendants Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, and Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami to import heroin into the United States. Baktash Akasha Abdalla was the leader of an organized crime family in Kenya (the “Akasha Organization”), which was responsible for the production and distribution of ton quantities of narcotics within Kenya and throughout Africa and maintained a network used to distribute narcotics for importation into the United States. In October 2014, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla delivered a one-kilogram heroin sample, on behalf of Hafeez and the Akasha Organization, to confidential sources acting at the direction of the DEA in Nairobi. In early November 2014, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla delivered 98 additional kilograms of heroin to the sources.
In November 2014, Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Hussein, and Goswami were provisionally arrested in Kenya. They arrived in the District for prosecution based on the pending drug-trafficking charges in January 2017.
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Hafeez, 58, a Pakistani national residing in, among other places, London, is charged with conspiring to import heroin into the United States; conspiring to import methamphetamine into the United States; and aiding and abetting the distribution of heroin, knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States. Each charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. The potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Kim praised the outstanding efforts of the Special Operations Division of the DEA, Bilateral Investigations Unit. Mr. Kim also thanked the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the London Metropolitan Police Service – Extradition Team, the DEA London Country Office, the DEA Dubai Country Office, the DEA Nairobi Country Office, the DEA Pretoria Country Office, the DEA New Delhi Country Office, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and London Attaché.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emil J. Bove III, Patrick Egan, and Amanda L. Houle are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Superseding Indictments charging Hafeez, Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, and Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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