TEXARKANA — Federal officials announced Tuesday the third large-scale drug investigation in the state in less than a month, arresting more than 40 people accused of running a narcotics-trafficking ring centered on the Arkansas side of Texarkana.
The arrests come as part of a 190-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury that names 66 people in various roles of drug-trafficking, including several counts that accuse suspects of distributing crack cocaine and other illegal drugs near schools, housing projects and a public playground.
An additional eight people are charged in state crimes connected with the more than year-long investigation that federal officials called Operation State Line Sweep.
Conner Eldridge, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced the indictment while standing on the steps of the federal courthouse that straddles the state line in downtown Texarkana.
“A number of these counts allegedly took place within 1,000 feet of [five] different public schools, five public housing projects and then a public playground, which underscores the seriousness of this problem and the plague on these streets,” Eldridge said at a news conference.
“Kids just ought not to have this going on around their schools and in their neighborhoods,” he added.
As of Tuesday afternoon, teams of FBI agents and the Arkansas State Police were still seeking more than 30 people on charges stemming from the indictment that lists 28 instances where drugs were sold within 1,000 feet of schools — all but one involving various amounts of crack cocaine.
The other charge involved the sale of methamphetamine.
In addition, three of the charges detail drug deals near the playground of the Sandflat-Glendale Neighbor- hood Center.
In total, more than 2.7 kilograms of crack cocaine, 98.3 grams of methamphetamine and an undisclosed amount of marijuana were sold as part of the drug-trafficking conspiracy, according to the indictment.
It also lists a part of a 10-acre tract in Bowie County, Texas, an undisclosed amount of cash, seven vehicles, 13 firearms and 43 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition that could be forfeited in the event of a conviction.
Among the federal charges listed in the 62-page indictment were more than 150 counts of distribution of cocaine or crack cocaine or aiding in the distribution of the drugs.
Several of the other charges include dealing drugs in proximity to a public housing project or felons possessing firearms or using them while distributing narcotics.
Details of the state criminal charges weren’t available Tuesday evening.
The potential sentences for the charges laid out in the indictment range from five years in prison to life imprisonment as well as fines ranging from up to $250,000 to $20 million.
The announcement of the investigation comes a week after the unsealing of a 71-person indictment that detailed sophisticated drugtrafficking operations in Helena-West Helena that included charges that police took bribes, escorted drug runners and tipped off dealers about search warrants.
The federal investigation, called Operation Delta Blues, was the culmination of more than two years of police work that included wiretaps and undercover officers.
It also follows the announcement of another state and federal drug-trafficking investigation in El Dorado, named Operation Street Sweeper, earlier this month.
That investigation, which focused on a crack cocaine, methamphetamine and Oxy-Contin ring, resulted in an 18-person federal indictment and state charges filed against 74 others.
Authorities are still seeking 16 people in that investigation.
None of the three investigations was connected, Eldridge said, but as in the others, Tuesday’s indictment is one phase of an ongoing probe into narcotics trafficking.
David Shepard, FBI assistant special agent in charge, told reporters that more than 100 law-enforcement officers were involved in the Texarkana operation that originated from discussions with local police chiefs and sheriffs about drug-trafficking in their areas.
The investigation grew to include investigators from the FBI, the Arkansas State Police, the Texarkana, Ark., Police Department, the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department, the Miller County sheriff’s office and the Bi-State Narcotics Task Force.
Teams of federal, state and local law enforcement began serving warrants at 6 a.m. Tuesday, arresting all but one of those in custody in Texarkana, Shepard said. The other person, whom he declined to identify, was arrested outside city limits in Miller County.
Carlton Jones, prosecuting attorney for the southern section of the 8th Judicial District, said a number of those named in the indictment had faced previous charges in Miller County and Texarkana, where the drug-trafficking was concentrated.
Twenty of those arrested made initial appearances in federal court in Texarkana before the afternoon announcement of the investigation, Shepard said.
More are scheduled to appear today.
Shepard declined to give details about how they were apprehended, saying only that the arrests were without incident.
Late Tuesday, high school boys practiced football at the sprawling Arkansas High School, one of the schools where prosecutors say drugs were dealt nearby.
The indictment also lists Washington 4-A Academy, Vera Kilpatrick Elementary, College Hill Middle School and North Heights Junior High as places near where dealers pushed their wares.
Among the federal charges involving schools, one of the largest crack-cocaine sales was near Washington 4-A Academy on Nov. 2, 2010. That day, the indictment accuses Terreal A. Duke, who also goes by “Smoke,” of distributing 54.1 grams of crack cocaine.
Texarkana, Ark., School District spokesman Genia Bullock said principals at the schools were unavailable for comment late Tuesday. In response to a reporter’s questions, the district released a written statement applauding federal, state and local law enforcement.
“The Texarkana Arkansas School District is pleased that law enforcement continues its fight against crime to help keep our neighborhoods, schools and students safe,” the statement said.
Several blocks away from the schools, police and sheriff’s cars slowly wound around wooden-framed buildings marketing themselves as private clubs near the Pinehurst Village housing project, where the indictment said many of the dealers sold various amounts of cocaine.
The courtyards of the housing project were largely deserted but for one man who sat outside smoking a cigarette and talking on a phone.
A few streets over, a man sat on the back stoop of 2110 Preston St., Apartment 137, one of the homes in the housing project where the indictment says drugs were sold and used.
In the neighborhood where prosecutors say a drug-trafficking organization thrived on street drug deals and fed gun violence for more than a year, a still quiet was broken by distant pops and booms late Tuesday.
This time, though, the sounds were from drums and cymbals, the instruments of a handful of teens practicing and marching in a drum line.
Preserving that quiet was the main goal of the investigation, said Shepard, who works out of the FBI’s Little Rock field office.
“We will do everything we can to remove every remnant of this criminal element,” he said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 10/19/2011