MEMBERS OF MAJOR PCP DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION IN NORTHEAST WASHINGTON, D.C. AND NEW YORK INDICTED Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., Michael A. Mason, Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laura Nagel, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Washington Division Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Chief Charles Ramsey of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced today's joint law enforcement operation targeting the narcotics trade and related violence in Northeast, Washington, D.C. This operation resulted today in the indictment of 26 individuals who were responsible for trafficking Phencyclidine, also known as PCP, by shipping it to Washington, D.C., as well as selling the PCP in Northeast, Washington, centered in the 18th and M Street area of the city. Twenty individuals were arrested on federal and District of Columbia narcotics charges and search warrants were executed in at least 25 different locations in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Georgia. U.S. Attorney Howard stated that, "this is the largest known PCP trafficking organization operating in the metropolitan area, if not nationally. Knowing the volatile and dramatic effect that PCP can have on its users, today's arrests and indictments should hopefully pave the way for the return of a safe and better neighborhood in and around 18 & M Streets, N.E. PCP has been making a comeback and today's message to drug dealers should be: not in our city!" Today's operation grew out of a long-term investigation which was conducted by the Safe Streets Task Force, a joint FBI/MPD task force targeting gang activity in the District of Columbia. This investigation has focused on the narcotics trade and attendant violence in the Northeast area. The investigation culminated in the issuance of arrest warrants for twenty-six individuals on District of Columbia charges for narcotics distribution, including PCP, cocaine base (also known as "crack" cocaine, and Ecstasy), and other charges and the issuance of two related indictments charging the individuals with a total of ninety-two counts, including narcotics conspiracy charges in United States District Court. Assistant Director Mason stated, "today's
arrests and searches illustrate another joint-agency victory in dismantling
a drug enterprise from the supply
source to the street distributor." Today's operation entailed the joint efforts of approximately 300 law
enforcement officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Metropolitan Police Department, and Maryland, Virginia,
New York, and
Georgia law enforcement authorities. In the early morning hours, the
officers spread
out throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, New York,
and Georgia and executed the arrest and search warrants. By day's end,
they had
arrested twenty individuals and conducted searches of at least 25 different
locations related to the drug conspiracy. Those searches resulted in
the recovery of a gallon of PCP, 17 firearms, and approximately $100,000
in
cash. In announcing the two indictments, United States Attorney Howard, Assistant Director Mason, Special Agent in Charge Nagel and Chief Ramsey praised the efforts of the Safe Streets Task Force for its investigation. Specifically commended were FBI Special Agents Richard Stallings, Mary Counts, Timothy Ervin, Tucker Vanderbunt; MPD Detectives Joseph Sopata; Richard Watkins, and Barbara Lyles; and DEA Special Agent Tom Hickey. They also cited the efforts of secretaries April Pinkney and Sheila Wilson, Legal Assistant Carolyn Carter-McKinley, Paralegal Specialists Kim Hall and Rosalind Trapp, Paralegal Supervisors Ivy Hart and Tracy Heckler, and Assistant United States Attorneys Elisa S. Poteat and Roderick L. Thomas, who are prosecuting the case. An Indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
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