San Francisco’s federal drug prosecutions have slammed on the brakes since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, falling to about half the clip seen during the 2023–24 Tenderloin surge.
An analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle shows filings are down by more than 50% per month in 2025. So far this year, federal prosecutors have brought about seven drug‑dealing cases a month, roughly half the 15 monthly cases posted between August 2023 and December 2024, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Nationally, drug prosecutions have dropped to their lowest levels in decades after the Trump administration reassigned thousands of agents to immigration enforcement, according to Reuters. The outlet linked the slide to fewer long‑running narcotics probes and declines in conspiracy and money‑laundering charges—cases that typically take time and lots of coordination.
How All Hands on Deck changed the map
Launched in November 2023, the federal “All Hands on Deck” operation pooled the FBI, DEA, ATF, and local agencies to fast‑track prosecutions, run joint “jump out” operations in the Tenderloin, and yank select state cases into federal court, an approach detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California.
Plea deals, deportations, and local reaction
The Chronicle reports the federal push leaned on low‑level plea deals that included probation, three‑year stay‑away orders, and no extra jail time. Undocumented defendants who took those deals were immediately transferred to ICE for deportation. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told the paper federal prosecutors provide a “critical deterrent” to drug dealing, arguing federal courts can impose stiffer consequences than state courts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Who’s running the U.S. Attorney’s office now
Leadership changed this spring. Craig H. Missakian was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California on May 27, 2025, after being appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. He pledged to work with law enforcement partners to protect public safety, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California.
Why enforcement changes matter
Federal officials and agents warn that reassigning investigators to immigration work can complicate the complex, years-long cases that target higher-level suppliers and the financial webs behind them, an effect reflected in Reuters’ analysis of federal dockets. Prosecutors say fewer conspiracy and money‑laundering filings make it tougher to trace proceeds and build the multi‑agency cases that actually dismantle trafficking networks.
The Chronicle’s numbers spotlight a local tension: city leaders want federal muscle to keep dealers off the streets, even as Washington pulls resources in a different direction. Hoodline tracked the original All Hands on Deck crackdown and the extraditions and seizures that followed; those earlier operations are now running headlong into a national shift in enforcement that will shape how San Francisco fights fentanyl going forward.
