A federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday reveals that 13 people in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri are facing multiple drug and weapons charges.
Eleven of the 13 were arrested early Tuesday morning -- six in Blytheville, one in Jonesboro and two in the Missouri towns of Malden and Steele, near the Arkansas border. Two others were arrested on warrants in a Missouri jail. The remaining two indictees remained at large Tuesday evening.
In a news release issued with Matthew Barden, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Little Rock, and Jeffrey B. Reed, resident agent in charge of the Little Rock office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said: "We remain resolute in our continuing effort to help the people of northeast Arkansas, and the Delta in general, combat the plague of methamphetamine and gun violence. If the drug dealers won't go away, neither will we."
Thyer added: "While past law enforcement operations have slowed the drug trade in northeast Arkansas, now we have people from neighboring states coming into Blytheville to purchase large quantities of meth. Today's operation, the culmination of a combined, cooperative effort from multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies, makes clear we will not permit this behavior to go unchecked and unpunished."
The news release said that the joint DEA-ATF investigation began in mid-2015 with a series of small controlled purchases of methamphetamine from dealers in Missouri. It said that eventually, as the informants increased the amounts of methamphetamine they purchased, the dealers took the informants to their main suppliers in Blytheville to buy larger amounts, up to a quarter pound at a time.
In total, law enforcement agents directly purchased more than 1 kilogram of methamphetamine from the drug-trafficking organization in 17 controlled purchases, according to the release. It said the agents also seized nine guns from convicted felons.
The indictment, handed up Oct. 6 in Little Rock, includes 28 charges, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and the use of a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime.
The federal agencies were assisted in the investigation by the 2nd Judicial District Drug Task Force, the Blytheville and Osceola police departments, the Mississippi County sheriff's office and the Arkansas State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens.
The 2nd Judicial District covers Clay, Greene, Craighead, Poinsett, Mississippi and Crittenden counties.
Those named in the indictment are: Arther James, 38, and James Brown, 39, both of Blytheville, who the news release said are suspected of heading the drug ring; Brad Vernon, 34, of Gosnell, who remains at large; Adam Bailey, 35, and Angeleke Blankenship, 43, both of Kennett, Mo.; Steven Thomas, 31, of Steele, Mo.; Blytheville residents Antonio Brodie, age unavailable; Justin Buys, 31; Heath Fowler, 40; Keith Keys, 49; Antonio McNichols, 46; Lewis Miles, 45; and Joseph Riley, 30, who is still at large.
Metro on 10/19/2016