Sarah Boblenz – DEA Compliance & DEA Consultant Expert
I am Sarah Boblenz, a nationally recognized subject-matter expert on the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations. I retired from the DEA in 2025 with 22 years of service with the Diversion Control Division.
My career started in Des Moines, Iowa in 2003, as a Diversion Investigator, where I conducted investigations at DEA-registered locations to review compliance with recordkeeping and security. The DEA’s focus in the early 2000s was on internet pharmacies. I had the opportunity to work on an investigation dubbed “Operation Webdrugs,” which was prosecuted in the Northern District of Iowa. This case involved the dismantlement of two internet pharmacy providers, the prosecution of several practitioners who prescribed hydrocodone to patients they never saw, and the prosecution of the pharmacists who filled these prescriptions and shipped them to customers. Over $12 million in assets were seized for forfeiture.
In 2009, I transferred to the New Delhi Country Office, where I worked with host-country counterparts in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. This work entailed coordination with the DEA’s Special Operations Division and host country counterparts who shared intelligence on the illicit trafficking of pseudoephedrine, the common precursor at the time for manufacturing methamphetamine.
I transferred to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2012, where the work was focused on investigating practitioners who were overprescribing opiates at pain management clinics. I also inspected the practices of practitioners who were designated as Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) and were waivered from registering as a Narcotic Treatment Program. These practitioners specialized in treating addiction through the use of buprenorphine. I met many good practitioners who were doing their part to mitigate what was later termed the Opioid Epidemic.
I began my management career back in Des Moines, Iowa, after a transfer in 2015. I served as a liaison with state regulatory boards and provided policy interpretation and guidance to peers. I also trained peers and new Diversion Investigators on regulatory inspections and criminal investigations.
My favorite time with DEA began in 2019, when I was selected to work as a Staff Coordinator in DEA’s Policy Section. The Policy Section is where I learned to respond to queries from Congress, state/local governments, registrants, the public, and other regulatory investigators. I led multiple large-scale projects involving updating the Diversion Investigator’s Manual, and revising and editing the Practitioner’s, Pharmacy, Researcher, NTP, and Chemical Handler’s Manuals for the DEA’s website. I arrived at DEA Headquarters right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During this time I collaborated with fellow Staff Coordinators, Section Chiefs (to include Scott Brinks), and Policy Analysts in drafting policy-related guidance documents and exceptions to regulations based on logic and legal reasoning for the COVID-19 webpage.
After a short stint working as a Diversion Program Manager, I realized that being a Policy Analyst was more rewarding than management, and I returned to the Policy Section to finish my career.
I am honored and thrilled to continue this work at Brinks DEA Consulting. Finding the nuances in regulations and navigating the gray areas of the Controlled Substances Act is my specialty. My consulting services include mock DEA inspections and audits, diversion risk assessments, SOP development, one-on-one training, and working as a liaison with registrants, stakeholders, and the DEA. My advice is practical and easy to implement.
Professional Speaking, Training, and Industry Leadership
Current Memberships and Committees
- 2026 NASCSA Annual Conference Planning Committee
- 2026 NASCSA Education Committee
- Drake Neighborhood Boulevard Beautification Committee
Notable Speaking Engagements
- 2024 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Region 7
- 2024 Operation Regulatory Wellness in Dallas/Ft. Worth Hospitals
- 2023 National Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities
- 2023 Healthcare Waste Conference
- 2022 National Association of State Controlled Substances Authorities
Awards and Recognitions
- Awarded the Diversion Control Division’s Employee of the Quarter for national COVID response contributions
- Recipient of an Investigative Award by the EDVA U.S. Attorney’s Office
- Recipient of Attorney General’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Award, and an On-the-Spot Award for Operation Webdrugs
Core Competencies
- Controlled Substances Act (CSA) & Code of Federal Regulations
- Controlled Substance Policy & Guidance Development
- Standard Operating Procedure Development & Review
- Controlled Substance Compliance & Risk Mitigation
- Stakeholder Engagement & Coalition Building