He was "fronting" drugs loaning sometraffickers drugsbefore they paid for them. The HIP Officers were checking the home of Marvin Thomas, 23, on Bessels Blvd. This story was originally published March 15, 2022, 9:46 AM. SOMERSET, Ky. (WKYT) - Two men are facing charges in connection with a big drug bust in Kentucky. They were listening when Louis Prieto told an associate that his fatherwas upset and in Louisville and that Wiley Greenhill's life was in danger, according to a transcript of court testimony. Monaco highlighted the need to combat drug trafficking and fentanyl proliferation on social media, telling reporters on Friday that she and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram met with social media companies last week discuss how social media companies "must do more to stop the sale of fentanyl on their platforms.". Knowing how dangerous this drug is, we began focusing on identifying how the fentanyl was coming into our community, said Paducah Police Chief Brian Laird, during a news conference Friday. After several shots hit into Bowman's chest, his car struck a telephone pole and fence before coming to rest against a house near South 25th Street and Burwell Avenue. According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, deputies executed a search warrant on Friday, Oct. 29, at the home of Edgar "Eddie" Castle, 53, in Sitka, Kentucky, after authorities were able to "make numerous controlled drug buys" at the home during the investigation. HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - Wednesday morning, troopers with Kentucky State Police Post Hazard and deputies with the Leslie County Sheriff's Office arrested 14 people in a drug bust, with seven more. According to the Justice Department, between August 2021 and August 2022, 107,735 people died of drug overdoses in the United States, two-thirds primarily from fentanyl. It's part of a story the WAVE Troubleshooters have been unraveling linked to the murders of 3-year-old Trinity Randolph and her father, Brandon Waddles. He said SWAT teams were used to secure two locations one on Levin Avenue and another on Coronado Court, because of the violent criminal history of some of those involved. A traffic stop on I-65 southbound early Saturday morning near Elizabethtown led to the discovery of over 100 pounds of marijuana, according to Kentucky State Police . OWENSBORO, Ky. An Owensboro Drug Trafficking Organization is behind bars and charged with multiple felonies after being caught with 151 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of counterfeit pills with suspected deadly fentanyl, and other drugs, announced United States Attorney Russell Coleman. Bethany Hall, 37, of Stanville; outstanding warrant, possession of marijuana and tampering with physical evidence. He joined the newspaper in September 2021 after previously working with the Anderson News and the Cats Pause. Other charged individuals include operators of secret labs in Mexico where fentanyl is made, weapons dealers who help the Sinaloa Cartel arm its security, and money launderers who funded the operations. As the case grew more complex and widespread,ATF agents called in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Louisville. 18, 2021 at 3:51 PM PDT LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Metro Corrections Officers made a large drug bust while doing a home incarceration, or HIP check, which yielded drugs, guns and thousands of dollars in cash. The men from Detroit established trust and Jose Prieto soonsent them50-pound shipments of meth from California to Kentucky. According to the complaints, on January 11, 2021, members of the DEA from multiple districts and local law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle being operated by another suspected member of the Watkins DTO in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the vehicle travelled from Arizona toward the Western District of Kentucky. During four years of service, he received several medals and commendations and earned the rank of senior airman. Deputies seized heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, pills and other drugs they said were being sold from the home. Kentucky Justice S01E01 Drug Bust Shootout. The police chief said overdoses in Paducah have continued to rise year-over-year. The remaining seven are wanted for active indictment warrants. Courtney Willis, 26, a Greenhill drug ring associate, allegedly stole meth from the organization and returned to his home state of Michiganto visit family in Muskegon Heights, a three-hour drive northwest of Detroit near Lake Michigan. ROLLA, Mo. Agents wouldn't give names of suspects or reveal the states involved. They formed a partnership, discussing drug shipments and prices, the agent said. Hall had been on the run for several weeks when Louisville Metro Police say they caught up to himon Jan. 31, 2017, inhis white Dodge Durango and triedto stop himin the 4700 block of Dixie Highway. Nelson County officials said the investigation is ongoing.. Federal officials on Friday detailed the Chapitos' gruesome and cruel practices aimed at extending their power and amassing greater wealth from testing the potency of the fentanyl they allegedly produced on prisoners to feeding victims of their violence to tigers in order to intimidate civilians. We know that nothing can repair the harm they've suffered or bring back the loved ones they have lost.". (WFIE) - Officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration say they executed nine search warrants Wednesday morning. Why are teen girls in crisis? Anytime we can take this much methamphetamine, fentanyl and firearms off the streets it is huge! Both were untrue, police say. In the summer of 2020, we started seeing an increase in fentanyl in the Paducah area. According to the criminal complaints, from September 2020 to present, federal and local investigative agencies have conducted a long term investigation into the Willie Watkins Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) believed to be trafficking in methamphetamine, counterfeit pharmaceutical pills believed to contain fentanyl, and marijuana. Agents believed Jose Prietobegan to see her as a liability. In December, a judge sentenced Jose Prieto to serve eight years and one month in federal prison. Two Kentucky men arrested in record drug seizure. Investigators said seven search warrants were obtained, resulting in the 20 arrests. Chris graduated from UK in December 2018. Police said a total of 23 people were charged during the 18-month investigation, with 14 arrests this week. All are charged with conspiring to distribute oxycodone in Madison, Estill, Clay, and Laurel counties from September 2019 thru March 2022. However, since the marketing rules were relaxed in the 1990s, Kentucky has been . The conspirators were said to be distributing oxycodone in Madison, Estill, Clay, and Laurel counties from September 2019 to March 2022. Following the seizure of the narcotics in Oklahoma City, Willie Watkins was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. They also sent associates to Louisville and put them up in hotels, where they waited for Wiley Greenhill or one of his associates to bring money to their hotel room, the DEA agent said. A second warrant was obtained to search the safe, uncovering 4.5 ounces of meth and an undisclosed amount of cash. This investigation is undoubtedly the most significant narcotics investigation in our departments history, which speaks to the magnitude of the drug epidemic in the Owensboro Metropolitan Area. Copyright 2021 WYMT. They also admitted tomoney laundering due to the evidence unearthed by the DEA andInternal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation. (KY3) - Two people are behind bars in connection with a recent drug bust in Phelps County. GREENUP COUNTY, KY (WOWK) On Tuesday, the Greenup County Sheriff's Office arrested multiple people for drug trafficking. "We are doing everything in our power, and using every authority we have, to bring those responsible to justice," he added. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Daniel Lindsey, 45, was arrested Friday and booked into the Nelson County Detention Center and held on a $10,000 bond. The newsroom's investigation revealed the drug ring's links totheshooting of Detective Hyche,the killing of a 28-year-old mother and a 27-year-old man in Louisville, themurderof a man inDetroitand the mysterious death of a woman in a casino in Tunica, Mississippi. We have violent felonies making lots and lots of money, Laird said. Police said a total of 23 people were charged during the 18-month investigation, with 14 arrests this week. With two generations of a single family are involved, with someone listed as young as 19 and another as old as 47. (LEX 18) Authorities say five arrests in Kentucky have resulted in what's being considered the "biggest drug bust in Laurel County involving meth" as . The Paducah Police Department is asking for help locating those who have not yet been arrested. According to officials, the marijuana had a street value of more than $10 million. Last month, Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obradorcontroversially stated that the deadly drug is neither created nor consumed in his country and blamed Americans for the totality of the epidemic. The cartel routinely sent large shipments of meth across the border into California and from there, the Prietos coordinated the distribution across the country. The investigation revealed Jose Luis Barata Vazquez, Alexey Barata Hernandez, Yoleisys Reyes Castillo, Dioslen Jimenez Ortiz, Kaid Rogers, Allison Renee Rogers, Michael King, Christopher King, Floyd Barker, Sheila Barger, and Samuel Barger were conspiring to distribute oxycodone. Monday when they smelled the odor of marijuana. Amber Lynn Stepp, 28, and a maleacquaintance drove to a Louisville home on a sunny day May 9, 2016as men tended the grill during a birthday celebration. Muskegon police told reporters the number of gunshots indicatedsomeone wanted to senda message. Her body was found July 5, 2018, on the floor of her casino hotel room with a gunshot to the head. All rights reserved. She put her affairs in order, including signing over custody of her son, and headed to a Tunica casino. During a bond hearing for Jose Prieto, federal prosecutors in Louisvillecited Pack's suspicious death asone of the reasons heposed a danger to potential government witnesses and others. LSD, MDMA, and GHB are found in Kentucky. LONDON, Ky. (LEX18) Agents across Kentucky arrested 12 people and confiscated more than 10,000 oxycodone pills. Ivan Guzman Salazar, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez El Chapo's son allegedly made hundreds of millions of dollars by sending fentanyl to the U.S., according to the Justice Department. Her passenger hopped out of the car, walked around and leaned in to talk to her from the driver's side window. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Published: Apr. Seven months later, a drug ring associate wasaccused of killing a man in Louisville. According to the Fivco Area Drug Enforcement (F.A.D.E.) The case isn't over. A witness told Louisville police Williamson grabbed a Gucci backpack from Stepp's back seat and ran to the back of the homein the Portland neighborhood, according to a recorded police interview. However, investigators haven't found enough evidence to file charges. The dog also sniffed out three suitcases on the plane stuffed with an estimated 80 kilos of cocaine the. I think that the criminal histories will let you know what kind of people are involved in the trafficking of fentanyl, he said. Months before her death, Jose Prieto had visited the same casino. Police eventually tracked downWilliamson, who is serving a 10-year sentence in a Kentucky prison for second-degree manslaughter. Stepp later told police the three had flown on one-way tickets to Phoenix to buy meth and possibly heroin to bring back to Louisville, according to an investigatory letter in Kentucky court records. When ATF agentsmade an undercover buy from a Greenhill associate inLouisville, they traced a stolen.38-caliber Smith & Wesson Special theDetroit Police Department once issued to one of its officers. Somerset police then notified their DEA Task Force officer, who partnered with the FBI and spent the next few months tracking the activity of both Smith and Calhoun. FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) Three people were arrested Monday after drugs, including fentanyl, were found at a home in Allen, the Floyd County Sheriffs Office said. In a photo posted on her Facebook page, she is smiling with her young son and daughter. Both are equally committed to ridding our community of the scourge of organized drug trafficking and keeping our citizens safe.. But the mother of a little girl and boynever made it out of her silver Ford Fusion. HENDERSON, Ky. (WFIE) - Authorities say 49 people were charged in connection to a large-scale narcotics trafficking investigation in Henderson County. "Make sure you're on the right team.". Investigators caught her with sevenpounds of meth and more than $44,000 in drug proceeds. Every year it probably goes up by 5, he said. Each conspirator is facing up to 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1 million, and up to three years of supervised release. Rattled residentsand many officers didnt know at the time of the Feb.1, 2018, shootout in Buechel, Kentucky, that the men inside the pickup were connected to a much largerdrug trafficking organization one that lured violent gangs from Detroit and ordered millions of dollars of methamphetamine fromMexicos infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Just before 2 p.m. Monday, deputies spotted a woman with an active warrant driving near . 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