Eleven individuals are facing federal drug charges in multiple indictments unsealed May 30 targeting a large, multi-state drug trafficking organization based in Mississippi, following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.
According to court documents, the indictments resulted from an extensive Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation dubbed Operation Highlife. The Mississippi-based drug trafficking organization is charged with distributing more than 40 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 3 kilograms of cocaine and over 100 pounds of marijuana illegally smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico across numerous states to include Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and California.
“Methamphetamine has devastated countless communities due to the dramatic health and public safety consequences that typically accompany its introduction into an area,” said Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. “Today’s arrests mark the culmination of an extensive joint effort by HSI, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and the Drug Enforcement Administration to dismantle a drug trafficking organization that decimated parts of Mississippi and Alabama with illegal drugs smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. This operation is a testament to the seamless partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement, which HSI sincerely appreciates in the combined effort to improve the lives of law-abiding residents throughout Mississippi and Alabama.” Miles oversees a five-state area of operations to include Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
