U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced on Friday that there are new charges against 13 Detroit-area men accused of conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine and other drugs.
Of those 13 men, nine are charged with distributing fentanyl and heroin resulting in overdose death and serious bodily injury.
The drug trafficking organization was known as the "Polo" organization. Agents began investigating Polo in March when heroin distributed by them was connected to a spike in overdose deaths.
Demarco Tempo, 27 (also known as “Polo”) of Warren; Haratio Heard, 25; Juwan Allen, 22; Darius Gordon, 25; Alvin Coates, 21; Javon Brown, 25; Greg Howard, 20; Dennis Jones, 21; Amacio Alexander, 39; Marcus Gilbert, 22; Kenneth Sadler, 28; Darreyl Coneal, 28; and Randy Stewart, 25, all from Detroit, are the men who have been charged.
All were charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and fentanyl.
Tempo, Heard, Allen, Gordon, Coates, Brown, Howard, Jones and Gilbert are the men charged with distribution of heroin and fentanyl where death and serious bodily harm occurred.
"Overdose deaths from heroin and fentanyl are becoming a national epidemic, including here in Michigan, as people addicted to prescription pills become desperate to feed their addictions," McQuade said in a release. "Law enforcement agencies are banding together to prosecute traffickers who are exploiting these addictions and risking lives for profit."
The Warren Police Department Special Investigations Division lead the investigation in partnership with the DEA.
“I would like to highly commend both the Warren Police Special Investigations Unit and the DEA for their hard work and dedication in this investigation which led to the grand jury indictment charging the leader of a drug trafficking organization with the death and overdoses of four victims," Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said in a release.
You can read the entire indictment below.
Drug trafficking organization charged for fentanyl overdose deaths in metro Detroit by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
