The US Department of Justice Western District of North Carolina announced that a criminal indictment has been unsealed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, charging six members of a drug trafficking ring with conspiracy to traffic fentanyl and methamphetamine and related drug or gun charges.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshals Service deputies, and officers with the Hickory Police Department (HPD) arrested four defendants earlier this week. Two defendants were already in police custody.
According to allegations in the indictment, filed court documents, and court proceedings, the drug trafficking ring operated out of Hickory, North Carolina, and distributed large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the area. To identify the drug conspirators and their operations, ATF agents and HPD officers utilized controlled drug purchases, conducted physical surveillance, and executed search warrants. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that members of the drug ring allegedly used several residences either as “stash houses” to store drugs and/or guns, or to conduct drug sales and other drug trafficking activities.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 4.5 kilograms of fentanyl, over 3.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than 200 pounds of marijuana. Law enforcement also seized seven firearms used by some of the traffickers to support their drug distribution,
Charged were:
Ashton Durrell Farley, 35, of Hickory,
Dustin Eric Wilson, 36, of Charlotte,
Whitney Necole Bryant, 30, of Hickory,
Tonya Quantina Jackson, 42, of Hickory,
Harold Marquis Wilfong, 36, of Hickory,
Thomas Eugene Ikard, 44, of Lenoir, N.C
