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JACKSON, MISS. – The FBI’s Jackson Division’s Southeast Mississippi Safe Streets Task Force and Hattiesburg Police Department executed five search warrants on Dec. 16, 2016 in Hattiesburg, Miss., seizing a total of 17 weapons related to a drug trafficking network based in Ascension Parish, Louisiana and covering Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.
FBI Special Agents, Task Force Officers and law enforcement officers seized 12 handguns, four rifles and one shotgun from individuals involved in large scale trafficking of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Louisiana, eight defendants were indicted in the case. Three of the defendants were based in Hattiesburg:
· Arthur Johnson, Jr., a.k.a. “Nelson Howard,” “Wood,” and “Dread,” age 40, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, CEO of “Ruff-n-Rugged Entertainment” in Geismar, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, crack cocaine, and 100 grams or more of heroin; distribution of 100 grams or more of heroin; unlawful use of a communication facility; and forfeiture. Johnson was also charged with felon in possession of a firearm in the Southern District of Mississippi.
· Lashucklan Martin, a.k.a. “Fat,” age 39, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin; unlawful use of a communication facility; and forfeiture.
· Ramsey D. Everett, a.k.a. “Ram,” age 30, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin; unlawful use of a communication facility; and forfeiture.
Five other defendants were indicted in the case.
The search warrants were executed in connection with a major Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, which is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana; the FBI Baton Rouge Capitol Area Gang Task Force, which is also an FBI Safe Streets Task Force that includes the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department; the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office; the FBI Hattiesburg, Mississippi Resident Agency; and the Hattiesburg Police Department.
In Mississippi, the search warrants were executed by the FBI Jackson Division’s Southeast Mississippi Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force. The Southeast Mississippi Safe Streets Task Force is made up of members from the FBI Jackson Division’s Hattiesburg Resident Agency, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Mississippi State Auditor and Hattiesburg Police Department.
An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trail or through a guilty plea.
