As the case grew more complex and widespread,ATF agents called in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Louisville. . Area Overview Livability Best . A major drug ring has been brought down with the arrest of 14 members of one of Louisville's "most violent . Narcotics detectives soon stopped the truck near Derby and Carey avenues, seven miles northwest of the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, spent weeks interviewing agents, prosecutors, defense attorneys and local police and siftingthrough court, police and jail records in four statesto piece together details of thecriminal enterprise and thedestructive swath it cut across the U.S. culminating in arson, a toxic romance,betrayal and deadly revenge. Jose Prieto was 11 whenhis father hurried their family out of hishomeland and into the U.S. as refugees. "She can't even walk to the store because she's scared of a stray bullet. Source: The Louisville, KY crime data displayed above is derived from the FBI's uniform crime reports for the year of 2020. LOUISVILLE,Ky. As Louisville Metro Police Detective Darrell Hyche stepped toward a white pickup truck to make a traffic stop, a gunman fired bullets into his face and head. My son shouldn't be dead. Agents believed Jose Prietobegan to see her as a liability. In California, DEA agents say Jose Prietoran up a significant gambling debt tied to the Sinaloa Cartel once led by legendarykingpin Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn. Others are dead or at large. "His goal was to try and find what we call the plug, the source of supply that gets you power and control," the lead investigator told The Courier Journal. The charge carries a mandatory 5 year term of imprisonment consecutive to the underlying possession with intent to distribute sentence, and no more than life, a maximum fine of $250,000, and no more than 5 years supervised release. Most of the defendants were arrested in a coordinated law enforcement sweep in November . By Chloe Atkins and David K. Li. Court documents . All rights reserved, WATCH LIVE: Rain and Spotty Storms Wednesday, Powerful Storms Forecast for Thursday, Patient: Front Tooth Damaged During Medical Procedure, The Pandemic Altered Many Things, Including Alcohol AbuseThese Are the Warning Signs. With Goodman in jail,Laura Dawn Pack, 36,stepped in to pickup drug shipments for the organization. "This year there have been 163 homicides, 650 shootings. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Louisville Metro Narcotics Agents made a major drug bust involving six suspects and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of . Louisville narcotics detectives teamed with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and soon zeroed in on drug trafficker Wiley Greenhill, who moved from Detroit to the Derby City to form adrug ring. The picture that developeddepicts how Cuban refugee Jose Manuel PrietoJr., 56, built a drug ring in California that stretched from the West Coast northeastto Buffalo, New York, and south to Atlanta before leading his son, a U.S. Air Forceveteran,on a path to prison. According to a statement from LMPD, the two agencies confiscated 8.5 kilos of suspected fentanyl and approximately 20,000-30,000 suspected pressed fentanyl pills from a storage unit. Additionally, investigators said they seized 358 grams of crystal meth, 289 fentanyl pills, 64 grams of . The Prieto ring also is suspected offunneling a similar volume to Chicago, Atlanta,Detroit, Buffaloand cities in New Jersey, according to the DEA agent, who The Courier Journal isn't naming because of the sensitivity of his work. 0. . Updated: Mar. A "long-term investigation" yielded 15 pounds of marijuana, 998 edible marijuana packages, 173 packaged marijuana blunts, three handguns and a "large sum" of cash, according to a social media post by the agency. He joined the U.S. Air Force and served a tour in Iraq, latervolunteering to go back in place of a friend who had a family hardship. The DEA Evansville HIDTA Resident Office is committed to working with the Owensboro Police Department and our other federal, state, and local partners to keep our communities safe by investigating and arresting violent drug traffickers. Police also . The Prietosestablished the Louisville pipeline in 2016 after another one of Jose Prieto'ssons befriended Wiley Greenhill while both were inmatesat theRoederer Correctional Complex, an Oldham County prison about 23 miles northeast of Louisville. Reports show homicide rates skyrocketed across the U.S. in 2020 Feb. 8, 2021 02:14 During four years of service, he received several medals and commendations and earned the rank of senior airman. - Additional charges and more defendants have been added to two federal indictments that now charge a total of 21 defendants for their roles in separate conspiracies to distribute heroin and fentanyl in the Springfield, Mo., area, resulting in the overdose deaths of at least two people. Share. In this case Metro Corrections and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office partnered to conduct a closer examination of the residence. Louisville, KY 40202, Louisville: (502) 582-5911 All three of the men were arrested and charged with, among other things, complicity to trafficking in cocaine, complicity to possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. My dad's taking people out right now, man," Louis Greenhill cautioned in a recorded call, according to court records. "We're hoping to use the momentum and the successes in this to show ourpartners we are an agency that can be worked with to help reducethe number of shootings," Brownsaid. Louisville: (502) 582-5911 Bowling . . We will continue to work closely with local and federal law enforcement to keep our communities safe and to hold offenders accountable.. On Monday, police searched three properties, including a home on Elliott Avenue near South 24th Street, and a home on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard near South 26th Street. This is a significant removal of weapons and drugs off our streets by Metro Corrections HIP. 3 still at large connected to one of Louisville's most notorious gangs. LONDON, Ky. (WYMT) - The Laurel and Knox County Sheriff's Offices collaborated on a drug investigation that led to seven arrests Friday. Thomas is now back in custody facing his new charges. Local and federal law enforcement have been teaming up to curb crime in the Louisville Metro, amid a year that will surpass the record of homicides set in 2020. With 8.5 kilograms of the synthetic opioid, nearly 4,250,000 people could overdose, or the entire population of Lexington nearly 13 times. He didn't know Louisville police had intercepted the package, mailed through a private parcel service, and watched as Goodman picked it up from a porch in Buechel, then drove off in his white Chevy pickup truck. From 2016-18, the Prieto drug ring dominated the meth trade in Louisville, saturating the citywith more than 100 kilogramsworth millions of dollars, thelead investigator told The Courier Journal. Pfizer denied conducting gain-of-function research for the coronavirus virus in a letter to Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Breitbart News has learned exclusively. 2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of WLKY-TV. Starbucks olive oil drinks a curiosity in Italy, Bryant family gets $28.85M settlement over crash, EKU routs North Alabama, advances to ASUN semifinals, New tools aims to keep children protected online, Toddler helps Kentucky police find wanted woman, Tom Sizemores family deciding end of life matters, WH: No more TikTok on govt devices within 30 days, More record temps in jeopardy, before a major cool, 1 sentenced for operating meth ring in KY, IN, Postal robberies linked to national check fraud scheme, Record high temps and a few thunderstorms, Kentucky coal miner dies in southern West Virginia, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Townes also faces charges for possession with intent to distribute heroin, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. ATF and our partners disrupted a criminal organization operating in metro Louisville, by identifying violent offenders and their sources of crime guns and taking them off the street. Search: Louisville Drug Bust 2020. tiktok that are relatable. Additionally, according to the criminal complaints, on January 13, 2021, federal and local law enforcement executed multiple search warrants at locations associated with the Watkins DTO in Owensboro, Kentucky. Lewisville PD K-9 Stryker alerted to the nearly 600 pounds of methamphetamine found hidden in a tractor-trailer, police said. Family members of Dequante"Lil Q" Hobbs were also at the press conference. According to a federal grand jury indictment, beginning December 7, 2017, through June 17, 2020, all 14 defendants knowingly conspired to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, and methamphetamine. LOUISVILLE, KY. - A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky returned an Indictment charging Andre Ross, Robert Ross, Cory Ross, and Seiko Ross, all of Louisville, with violations of federal drug and firearms laws. Still, the story told by agents, defendants and prosecutors in interviews or court records reveals much about thecriminal enterprise and its deadly operation in Louisville and across the country. According to the criminal complaints, between January 6, 2021, and January 11, 2021, Willie Watkins, age 30 of Owensboro, Kentucky coordinated the purchase of approximately 150 pounds of suspected methamphetamine with an unidentified male, located in the Los Angeles, California area, and counterfeit pills containing suspected fentanyl from a source in the Phoenix, Arizona area. . Based on the evidence obtained from the long term investigation and the search warrants, additional members of the Watkins DTO, including Christopher McNary, age 31 of Owensboro, Kentucky, Richard Cason, age 29 of Owensboro, Kentucky, Keith Watkins, age 28 of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Samuel White, age 27 of Owensboro, Kentucky were also charged in a second criminal complaint with conspiring with each other and others to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. Everyone deserves to have their children grow up in safe neighborhoods. He received an honorable discharge in 2008 and headed to college, earning a master's degree in accounting. Police eventually tracked downWilliamson, who is serving a 10-year sentence in a Kentucky prison for second-degree manslaughter. Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to call police, or the FBI at 502- 263-6000. MORRIS STEPHENSON Staff Writer. Thomas was charged with four counts of wanton endangerment. They said they had learned of roughly a half-pound of . The operation was a yearlong effort between local and federal law enforcement agencies members from which are part of a gang force that for the last year has shifted its focus to target groups that perpetuate violence in the city. LOUISVILLE, Ky. ( FOX 56) - A partnership between Louisville Metro Police Department and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency led to the execution of another large drug bust on Monday. Hyche recovered and returned to work. I think she may have been given an ultimatum," to take her own life or the drug ring would kill her or someone she loved. 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. 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. The HIP Officers were checking the home of Marvin Thomas, 23, on Bessels Blvd. Anytime we can take this much methamphetamine, fentanyl and firearms off the streets it is huge! "And we'll look for every tool available the group violenceinterventions are one, these larger group prosecutions are one, but for us to bring those numbers down, we have to have a functioning, effective, supported police department," Coleman said. Lewisville PD. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Darreal Forest, Adrian Walker and Rayshawn Lee were arrested by Louisville Metro Police on Dec. 30, 2019. The police said officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor, 26, in a March raid after her boyfriend shot an officer in the leg. In 2016, the cartel issuedJose Prieto an ultimatum: Work for them selling their drugs or be killed. The cartel routinely sent large shipments of meth across the border into California and from there, the Prietos coordinated the distribution across the country. CLARKSVILLE Two men have been arrested and more than $3 million seized in cash and drugs as part of a bust into a multi-state drug operation. During a search of the vehicle subsequent to a certified K-9 alert, law enforcement recovered: approximately one-hundred fifty-one (151) pounds of crystal methamphetamine, approximately three and one-half (3.5) pounds of counterfeit pharmaceutical pills suspected of containing fentanyl (contained in Ziploc bags), approximately twenty-one (21) pounds of marijuana, approximately nine (9) pounds of THC edibles, approximately fourteen (14) pounds of THC related vape products, and approximately one (1) gram of ecstasy. They say during the stop, they learned one of the individuals, James Pratt, of . So we are sending a message," said Jodi Cohen, FBI Louisville Special Agent in Charge. Detectives recovered the contraband Mondaynight. This case demonstrates the importance of this requirement. 2020 Jan 2, 2020 Updated Jan 2, 2020; . 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. "This year there have been 163 homicides, 650 shootings. "But it'spart of the strategy. 2023 www.courier-journal.com. Reach her at 502-582-4469; kkachmar@courierjournal.com or @NewsQuip on Twitter. The team made up of local and federal law enforcement said the suspects are linked to multiple crimes, including drug trafficking and gun offenses. The individuals arrested during this investigation were responsible for peddling poison into Owensboro and our surrounding communities. Louisville police conducting a drug bust charged into Breonna Taylor's house and shot her 8 times. 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