MARKED TREE—Eighteen defendants accused of distributing large amounts of methamphetamine in northeast Arkansas are in custody after federal and state authorities made several arrests in Poinsett County Tuesday as part of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation.
The large-scale drug operation in northeast Arkansas is, according to a federal indictment, headed by Jack Brown, 58, of Marked Tree, Reginald Hendrix, 53, of Trumann, and Dewayne Morris, 36, Trumann. A team of law enforcement agencies in the area coordinated to arrest 17 individuals yesterday morning. Another defendant was already in state custody.
The arrests are in conjunction with the unsealing of the indictment of 21 people who were charged by a federal grand jury on February 6. Twenty of the 21 defendants are charged together in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Three additional co-conspirators who live outside the area have been indicted but have not yet been arrested.
The arrests stem from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation that began in July 2023. Most the defendants listed in the indictment are from Trumann and Marked Tree.