Verizon reached a deal to buy Alltel for US$28.1 billion, which would make the combined company the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. over AT&T. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is formally investigating Intel's business practices in an antitrust probe. While those were, arguably, the week's biggest stories, they it couldn't match the jaw-dropping word that Broadcom co-founder Henry Nicholas is accused by the government of storing drugs in a warehouse for more than nine years, and of spiking drinks of industry executives and customers with ecstasy. An indictment also charged him in an alleged stock option back-dating scheme.

1. Update: Verizon buys Alltel in $28.1 billion blockbuster and In Alltel deal, Verizon bolsters Western front: Verizon wants to buy Alltel in a $28.1 billion deal that would leapfrog Verizon over AT&T to become the largest wireless provider in the U.S. Alltel is the fifth largest wireless carrier in the country and its 13 million customers would give Verizon 80 million subscribers compared to AT&T's 71 million or so. AT&T picked up more than a few of that total when it merged with Cingular in 2004.

2. Broadcom co-founder drugged drinks, indictment says: Broadcom co-founder Henry Nicholas maintained a warehouse for more than nine years where he kept drugs including ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine, according to a federal indictment charging him with possession and distribution of drugs and backdating stock options that led to the largest write-down in a backdating scandal at a U.S. company. Nicholas put ecstasy in the drinks of industry executives and Broadcom customers, the indictment alleges. Former Chief Financial Officer William Ruehle was also indicted in the alleged stock-option backdating.

3. FTC opens antitrust investigation into Intel: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission launched an antitrust investigation into Intel's business practices, the agency and company said Friday. They didn't have much to say beyond that -- the FTC served the company a subpoena on Wednesday and Intel is cooperating with the investigation.

4. Postcards from Computex Taipei, Nvidia goes after Intel with Tegra processors, Intel, Via face off over low-cost laptops andAMD lets cat out of bag with puma launch: At the giant Computex trade show in Taiwan this week, AMD unleashed its Puma laptop chip platform. And Nvidia got into the mobile Internet device market with its Tegra processor family based on the Arm core, which puts it in competition with Intel's Centrino Atom. Meanwhile, the heightened rivalry between Intel and Via was evident at the show. The two are squaring off as big guns in the thriving low-cost laptop market.