Dozens arrested in West Memphis-area drug trafficking bust
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (WMC) - Federal, state and local law enforcement announced the arrests of dozens of suspects Wednesday in an ongoing drug trafficking investigation.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Cody Hiland and DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Justin King held a news conference in West Memphis Wednesday morning to release details about Operation “Money Don’t Sleep," led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
In totally, 36 people are facing federal charges in connection with the investigation. So far, 27 of those are in custody. Eighteen of those suspects were already on parole or probation for prior convictions.
Hiland plans to put consistent pressure on drug dealers to crack down on crime.
“They deserve to have a community without this toxic influence of drugs throughout the neighborhood,” said Hiland.
Below is a list of names and hometowns of some of the suspects arrested in Wednesday’s bust.
- Jan Brown -- Earle, Arkansas
- Nicholas Carter -- Earle, Arkansas
- Terri Andrews -- Earle, Arkansas
- Marco Jones -- Earle, Arkansas
- Corea Welch -- Earle, Arkansas
- Anthony Logan -- Osceolo, Arkansas
- Danyel Clay -- Turrell, Arkansas
- Jonathan Andrews -- Turrell, Arkansas
- Torry Bryant -- Turrell, Arkansas
- Marcus Gibson -- Turrell, Arkansas
- Joney Ivy -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Charolette Clay -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- James Skipper -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- William “Chad” Jones -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Harold Beasley -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Vincent Frierson -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Anna Ivy-Thomas -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Antonio Martinez -- West Memphis, Arkansas
- Chase Lung -- unlisted
- Clyde Stewart -- unlisted
- James Phillips -- unlisted
- Jermaine Johnson -- unlisted
- Michelle Hood -- Trumann, Arkansas
- Waylon Thomason -- unlisted
Investigators say they confiscated methamphetamine, more than a dozen firearms during the operation Wednesday, which included more than 100 law enforcement officers. They also confiscated $15,000 in cash.
“The impact is significant. These are federal charges. This is a federal investigation,” said King.
According to investigators, Wednesday’s bust was phase two of the operation, launched in 2015 by the DEA Little Rock District Office and the West Memphis Police Department. The first phase resulted in the arrests of 50 people in July 2017.
“This operation is a perfect example of the continued pressure we will apply to drug distributors,” said Hiland. “We arrested and prosecuted 50 targets in the first phase of this operation, and today we came back for more.”
Copyright 2019 WMC. All rights reserved.