21 facing meth-ring charges in Arkansas

Friday, November 16, 2012

A federal grand jury has indicted 21 people in a methamphetamine ring in which an Austin, Ark., man flew to and from Dallas to arrange couriers to pick up as much as 5 pounds of the drug and drive it back to the state, authorities said Thursday.

The indictment, handed up Nov. 6 and unsealed Thursday, charges Tarik Shawn “Bo” Bouhamidi, 46, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 17.5 ounces or more of a methamphetamine mixture, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday. Twenty others were indicted on methamphetaminetrafficking charges, said Chris Thyer, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Three of the indicted people- Brian Louis Embry, 49, of Atkins; Jeremy Gradden Putt, 42, of Benton; and Scottie Edwin Sisney, 40, of Atkins - are still at large, authorities said.

The investigation began in July of 2011, when separate police agencies began to piece together drug investigations, Thyer said.

Bouhamidi regularly flew to Dallas to meet with the drug source, Johnny Ybarra, 23, and arrange a courier to pick up the methamphetamine and drive it back to central Arkansas, he said. The group transported up to 5 pounds of methamphetamine per month and would track rental cars with a GPS system, said Bill Bryant, assistant special agent in charge of the Little Rock office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 11/16/2012