Cocaine Ring Busted in Southeast DC

Eleven people have been arrested and charged with federal crimes in connection to a cocaine trafficking ring based in Southeast Washington. The ring allegedly sold cocaine, crack cocaine, Fentanyl, PCP, and other drugs in the areas of Martin Luther King Jr., Avenue SE, Mellon Street SE, and Malcolm X Avenue SE, in the Seventh Police District.

The indictment outlines a complex network of drug dealing and firearms possession that spanned multiple neighborhoods in Southeast Washington. The investigation, which was led by the FBI’s Cross Border Safe Streets Task Force in partnership with MPD’s Narcotics and Special Investigations (NSID) Violence Reduction Unit, seized 10 firearms, PCP, crack, powder cocaine, heroin, pills, and over $2,500 in cash.

Those named in the indictment include: Delonta Chappell, 34; Dezmond Cunningham, 27; Anthony Graves, 30; Nico Griffin, 31; Wesley Leake, 31; Leon Linsday, 36; Kevonte Randall, 24; Barry Tyson, 21, and Shawn Wooden, 39, all of Washington, D.C.; Deshawn Loggins, 20, of Temple Hills, Md., and Ricky Lyles, 41, of Accokeek, Md.

A 12th individual, Corenzo Mobery, 39, of Washington, D.C., was indicted on related drug and firearms charges. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Henek of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

‘This investigation is part of a broader effort to target violence, drug trafficking, and the possession of illegal firearms in the District of Columbia,’ said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips. ‘This work is critically important to protecting those who live and work in our community.’

The FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD’s Violence Reduction Unit have been working together to reduce violent crime in the District of Columbia. ‘This joint partnership with MPD’s Violence Reduction Unit is producing significant results, as demonstrated by the arrests and indictment being announced today,’ said Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Bornstein.

MPD Chief Robert J. Contee III stated, ‘Through the focused coordination and intense collaboration of MPD’s Violence Reduction Unit and our law enforcement partners, we are determined to remove the District’s most violent offenders from our streets.’

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