Mauricio Jimenez, assistant Drug Enforcement Agency special agent in charge, said authorities also seized cash, multiple firearms and drugs. Neither he nor U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman would precisely quantify what was seized.
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“This organization was based here in Dayton,” Glassman said in a press conference in front of U.S. District Court in downtown Dayton. “They used 13 residences throughout the greater Dayton area to process, store and distribute drugs and cash proceeds.”
He added: “But its reach was far beyond Dayton.”
Glassman said the local operation was able to reach into other states, including Indiana, West Virginia, Arizona and California.
The drugs were supplied by a Mexican cartel, authorities said.
“This was a Dayton-based, poly-drug-trafficking organization led by Crawford Bogle and Savon Pope,” Jimenez said.
Charged were the alleged leaders of the local operation, Bogle, 33, and Pope, 26, both of Dayton.
A federal grand jury returned indictments of 17 others, as well, charging them with conspiring to distribute large quantities of Fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines.
Prosecutors said the defendants distributed dangerous drugs, moved hundreds of thousands in cash, bought “luxury goods” with profits and fled from federal task force authorities when they could.
“Now, all of that is over,” Glassman said.
The group had allegedly trafficked in multiple kilograms of deadly Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid said to be some 50 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
“I think any time any amount of drugs hits the street, it affects someone,” Jimenez said.
Federal investigators presented Thursday’s developments as a victory in an ongoing war.
“What’s crucial for us: If we’re going to stem the tide of our opioid epidemic, and we’re going to make sure that we then don’t get into the next epidemic … we have to make sure that we are engaged in prevention, enforcement and treatment,” Glassman said. “They all have to work together. What we’re talking about today is enforcement.
“If you don’t have one of those three things, the other ones aren’t going to work,” he added.
According to grand jury charges, Bogle and Pope would acquire for resale “bulk amounts” of controlled substances, processing and repackaging the illegal drugs for resale in Southern Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere.
Also charged Thursday: Deshawn M. Harris, 32, of Dayton and Phoenix; Dayton residents Kris A. Bogle, 49; Bryan K. Barney, 36; Lajuan M. Allen, 32; Donte (Deontay) A. Williams, 28; Marshall A. Cooper, 32; Jujuan D. Hansbro, 26; Dorian T. Bailey, 32; Storm A. Otey, 28; Dae-Sean L. Winn, 21; Jerome Bogle, 52; Brandon Henry, 33; Kimberly L. Kelly, 25; and Allen C.M. Maye, 39.
Charged as well were Huber Heights resident Qeuntin L. Robinson, 35; and Middletown residents Boyd D. Jackson, 63, and Lisa N. Sumpter, 64.
Kris Bogle, Barney, Allen and others were part of the ring’s network of sellers, operating out of a series of properties across the Dayton area to process, store and distribute the drugs, prosecutors allege.
The indictment indicates the group operated out of homes and apartments on East Siebenthaler Avenue, Riverside Drive, Laurel Avenue, Parkhill Drive, Mercer Avenue, North Gettysburg Avenue and elsewhere.
The group used rental cars and cell phones to conduct business. The indictment alleges that Barney used a car dealership to provide ring members with fraudulent dealership tags to conceal the true ownership of some of the vehicles used.
The indictment released Thursday does not identify Barney’s dealership.
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