A total of 15 people were arrested Wednesday in relation to a large-scale meth trafficking operation after a lengthy investigation by local, state, and federal agencies. More than a dozen of the individuals involved are facing federal charges.
According to the Owensboro Police Department, the investigation resulted in the execution of 8 search warrants Wednesday morning at locations throughout the Daviess County area. There were 11 subjects arrested on federal indictments and 4 subjects are being held on state drug-related charges. Additional charges and arrests are expected as this investigation continues, according to OPD.
Regarding the state charges, OPD released the following information on the individuals:
- Randi J. Cantrell (29, of Owensboro): Possession of Controlled Substance — First Degree, First Offense (Drug Unspecified); Possession of Marijuana; and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
- Cadie Goodwin (28, of Owensboro): Trafficking in Controlled Substance — First Degree, First Offense (> or = 2 Grams Methamphetamine – Enhancement); Trafficking in Marijuana (Less than 8 ounces), First Offense (Enhancement); and Possession of Controlled Substance — Second Degree (Amphetamine – Enhancement).
- Lance Mercer (23, of Owensboro): Trafficking in Controlled Substance — First Degree, First Offense (> or = 2 Grams Methamphetamine).
- Beth Butler (41, of Owensboro): Possession of Controlled Substance — First Degree, First Offense (Methamphetamine – Enhancement); and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Regarding the federal charges, a federal grand jury in Louisville returned a superseding indictment on April 5 charging 13 Kentucky residents (11 of which were arrested Wednesday) with running large-scale drug trafficking operations in the Owensboro area, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
According to court documents unsealed in federal court this week, the following defendants are federally charged with engaging in two conspiracies to distribute methamphetamine in Daviess County and elsewhere:
- Prince Northington (37, of Owensboro)
- Barri B. Brown (35, of Hopkinsville)
- Andrew Derington (33, of Owensboro)
- Trenton Brown (27, of Owensboro)
- Ryan Bean (36, of Owensboro)
- Christopher Vasquez (39, of Owensboro)
- Brittany Swihart (34, of Owensboro)
- Christopher Williams (40, of Owensboro)
- Avery Green (25, of Owensboro)
- Cedric Swanagan (35, of Owensboro)
- Nicole Toliver (27, of Owensboro)
- Courtland Reed (30, of Louisville)
- Birdie Lawless (28, of Owensboro)
Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Barri B. Brown is also charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Green and Toliver are also each charged with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The indictment was unsealed Wednesday during initial proceedings before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
During the investigation, local detectives from OPD were assisted by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and the Owensboro-Daviess County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. Detectives from the Kentucky State Police, Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, and McLean County Sheriff’s OFfice also assisted during portions of the investigation.
J.D. Winkler, Deputy Chief of OPD, said he was appreciative of the help from the state and federal partners because “drug trafficking and violence doesn’t really have jurisdictional boundaries.”
Winkler stressed that much of the crime in the area links back to “a very few individuals,” saying it’s important that OPD is selective in making sure those are the individuals that the department spends its resources going after.
“I think that it’s important that our approach as the Owensboro Police Department is to work with our community and identify the small amount of individuals that are that are trying to bring this stuff into our community,” Winkler said. “This is a great town. This is a safe town. We don’t have a tolerance for a small portion of individuals to come in and victimize our citizens, and that’s the reality of it.”
He said based on his spending much of his career working narcotics, Winkler knows there will likely be someone that tries to come in and fill the void after a big bust such as this one.
“When somebody tries to come into our community, we’re on top of it pretty quick,” he said. “We’re going to keep working. I know that there will more than likely be individuals come in and think that they can take their place, but we’re we’re going to be working.”
Winkler also noted that taking down entire operations takes months of dedication, but that all the agencies involved are committed to keeping Owensboro-Daviess County safe.
“We’re talking thousands of hours of work that goes into these investigations, because we have to do things right,” he said. “I see (detectives from all agencies) and I see their eyes and how tired they are, the sacrifices they make over months to make our community safer. It’s important to all of us.”
Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the DEA out of Indianapolis, said that due to the ongoing investigation, he couldn’t get into many specifics on the amount of drugs or other items that were confiscated. He also didn’t want to get into how the investigation got started or where the information came from.
“It was a methamphetamine investigation that was distributing significant quantities of methamphetamine in the area,” he said. “As a result of some of the search warrants that we executed today, we seized the sawed-off shotgun, a MAC-10, and an AK-47 firearm. So obviously, this is a drug trafficking organization that’s a danger to the community.”
Gannon said a bust of this size would not have been possible if they only targeted one individual at a time.
“Sometimes you have to look at a case-by-case basis and you have to realize it’s important to take off an organization, and what we were able to do in this investigation is exactly that,” Gannon said. “We took out people that have been working together, and it was making a huge impact in our area. Sometimes if you take off one person at a time, you can’t get the full scope of the organization and you can’t get the people that are causing harm to our community.”
Brian Jones, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI out of Louisville, also discussed how important it was that Owensboro-Daviess County received the HIDTA designation last year, allowing agencies at all levels to be able to work together to target a sizable drug trafficking operation.
“This is really one of the first major takedowns that we’ve seen that’s a result of this new task force that was formed last June,” Jones said. “This is a huge win for the community to get some bad actors off the street, to get some methamphetamine off the streets, and to make the community a safer place.”
