Drug-ring probe nets two more

3 in indictment still being sought

Two Little Rock men who were named Tuesday along with 14 other people in a federal indictment alleging participation in a drug-distribution ring that brought hundreds of kilograms of cocaine supplied by the Gulf Cartel in Mexico into Arkansas were taken into custody Wednesday, said a spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Dwatney Noid, 30, surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service, and marshals arrested Mervin “Slim” Johnson, 37, near West 12th and Woodrow streets Wednesday, spokesman Cherith Beck said. The two men were being held Wednesday night at the Pulaski County jail.

Noid, Johnson and 14 others - including, authorities say, leaders of the Gulf Cartel - are accused of taking part in a cocaine-distribution ring originating from Matamoros, Mexico. The group moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the state through Texas, authorities said.

Federal agents arrested 10 people early Tuesday, and one suspect was already imprisoned. Three of the people indicted - purported ringleader Idalia Rangel, Gerard “Fly” Trice and Manuel “Manny” Garza - were still at large late Wednesday.

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Rangel - who is also known as “La Tia” (The Aunt) or “Big Momma” - is accused in the indictment of running the cartel from her home in Matamoros.

Federal authorities began the 2 1/2-year investigation in 2010 when they learned Rangel’s son, Mohammed “Mo” Martinez, who was serving nearly 23 years in the federal prison in Forrest City after a 2006 conviction on several drug charges, had enlisted two other inmates to sell Rangel’s drug supply as early as 2008, according to the indictment.

The two inmates, Johnson and Emmanuel “Chi Chi” Ilo, were released in 2010 after completing their sentences on different drug charges, and began distributing cocaine throughout central Arkansas, the indictment states.

Martinez used “the prison telephone and email systems to coordinate the distribution of cocaine to, and the collection of drug proceeds from, former federal inmates and others,” and arranged face to-face meetings for Ilo and others with Rangel in Matamoros, according to the indictment and Chris Thyer, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

In one instance, Martinez, who had been transferred to a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, called Johnson on a prison phone, saying the distributor owed Rangel money for drugs he had recently received through the woman’s supplier.

Martinez, Johnson and Ilo each face one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds.

Ilo, 34, of Little Rock also faces six counts of distribution of cocaine and two counts of using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime. Johnson also faces a distribution charge.

Ilo and Johnson also recruited others to coordinate bulk shipments of cocaine from Mexico through Texas and Arkansas, collecting “bulk cash” as proceeds, creating bank accounts to route the drug proceeds and taking the money back to Mexico, authorities said.

Ilo would hand the cocaine over to Noid and others “for redistribution for customers,” the indictment states. On at least two occasions, Noid used a telephone to “facilitate the conspiracy” and later distributed about 28 grams of cocaine twice.

Through controlled drug buys, local and federal investigators received more than 1 kilogram of cocaine from some listed in the indictment, Thyer said Tuesday. Authorities have seized more than 175 kilograms “directly associated” with Rangel’s group, he said.

Federal agents also monitored phone calls and social media, but authorities wouldn’t elaborate on the surveillance because the case remains open.

According to Thyer, some members of Rangel’s group also were tied to members of a cocaine- and marijuana-trafficking organization named in a 34-count indictment in early April that led to arrest of 11 of 12 people named, including the group’s leader, Troy Allen. Investigators are still looking into those ties, Thyer said Tuesday.

Rangel has been a federal fugitive since a drug indictment in the 1990s, and federal authorities have been unsuccessful in attempts to extradite her, Thyer said.

Thyer on Tuesday described the trafficking group as a “family business.”

Rangel’s other son, Homar Martinez, 31, and his wife, Yadira Anahy Martinez, 36, both of Brownsville, Texas, were arrested and each face one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Rangel’s daughter, Nishme Martinez, 26, and her fiance, Jaime Benavides, 27, both of Austin, Texas, were arrested on the same conspiracy counts.

Denice Duran Martinez, 34, of Brownsville, who is either the wife or ex-wife of Mohammed “Mo” Martinez, was also arrested and indicted, Thyer said.

Also arrested on conspiracy charges Tuesday were Tarvars Honorable, 33; Lamont Williams, 34; Shanieka Tatum, 35; and Dwight McLittle, 27.

All five are from Little Rock.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/16/2013

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