At a press conference in Leesville, federal officials announced a Lafayette grand jury returned a 12-count indictment against 11 individuals involved in an alleged multi-parish drug trafficking organization. Assistant US Attorney LaDonte Murphy says the suspects are accused of possessing or conspiring to possess large amounts of meth and cocaine with an intent to distribute.
“Several of these alleged DTO members not only conspired to acquire methamphetamine, but actually, on dates specific and certain as alleged in the indictment, did acquire these substances and intended to distribute these products into our markets,” Murphy explained.
Authorities say the 11 people indicted have been arrested and taken into custody. Most of the suspects are from Vernon Parish, two of the alleged traffickers are from Sabine Parish. Murphy says the drugs originated in Mexico and were trafficked across the border.
“This is not the end of our fight to combat this foreign influence of cartels and drug traffickers. But for these 11 individuals, this is the beginning of the inability to push these products in central Louisiana,” Murphy said.
FBI agent Jonathan Tapp says one of the search warrants they executed resulted in law enforcement recovering a large amount of cocaine and fentanyl.
“About 25 pounds of methamphetamine, packed in buckets, 1 kilogram of cocaine, 2,000 fentanyl
pills, $125,000 in cash, and several one-ounce gold bars, Tapp said.