The number of federal drug law prosecutions has fallen to a decade-low this year, following the Trump administration ’s directive to prioritise immigrant deportations, according to a Reuters review of nearly two million court records.

So far this year, about 10% fewer people have been prosecuted for drug violations compared to the same period of 2024, court records show, a drop of about 1,200 cases and the slowest rate since at least the late 1990s. The pullback was more dramatic for the types of conspiracy and money-laundering cases often used to pursue higher-level traffickers. The number of people charged with money laundering dropped by 24%, according to Reuters’ analysis.

Shortly after taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump launched the broadest overhaul of U.S. l

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