The Maryland State Police Heroin
Investigative Unit, led by the Allegany County Narcotics Task Force, identified
and arrested the leader of a drug trafficking organization comprised of Blood
street gang members and associates involved in the distribution of fentanyl,
heroin, and cocaine, and the trafficking of firearms from New York to Allegany
County.
“Operation Blood Clot,” was the investigative effort initiated in July, 2019,
by the Maryland State Police Heroin Investigative Unit, in conjunction with the
Allegany County Narcotics Task Force and the Allegany County State’s Attorney’s
Office. The investigation targeted a drug trafficking organization responsible
for distributing large quantities of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine. The
year-long investigation resulted in Juerbar Otis Thomas, 43, of Cumberland,
formally of the Bronx, NY, being indicted by an Allegany County Grand Jury on
64 drug-related offenses, to include a charge of being a drug kingpin.
On May 25, 2020, investigators with the Allegany County Narcotics Task Force,
Maryland State Police Gang Enforcement Unit, STATE Team, Cumberland Barrack and
Homicide Unit, along with the West Virginia State Police, Cumberland Police
Department, Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, and Frostburg City Police
Department, served search warrants in the 300 block of City View Terrace, Boone
Street, 100 block of Mechanic Street, 400 block of Baltimore Avenue and the
unit-block of W. First Street, Cumberland, Md. Additional search warrants were
served in the E. Main Street area of Frostburg, Md., and Old Furnace Road area
of Mineral County, West Virginia.
Large amounts of suspected fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine, drug-related cash
and firearms were recovered by police. During the investigation, police
recovered 13 guns. Drugs they recovered included more than 1,200 grams of
fentanyl with a street value of more than $192,000, more than 99 grams of
heroin with a street value of almost $16,000 and more than 475 grams of cocaine
with a street value of more than $47,500.
The investigation developed sufficient evidence to allege Thomas was the
organizer, supervisor and manager of the drug trafficking organization. Thomas
obtained fentanyl, heroin and cocaine from Bronx, New York and distributed
those drugs in Allegany County, Maryland and West Virginia.
Thomas and his associates were also discovered to be manufacturing fentanyl and
heroin pills which mimicked prescription opioid pills. Thomas was arrested May
25th and has been held without bond in the Allegany County Detention Center
since.
An Allegany Grand Jury also indicted 20 co-conspirators in connection with
Thomas’s drug trafficking organization. They are:
Byron Jamar Simms, Frostburg, MD – 30 counts of drug and firearm related
offenses
Anthony Robert Joyner, Cumberland, MD – 12 counts of drug and firearm related
offenses
Raymond William Seabrook, Cumberland, MD – 43 counts of drug and firearm
related offenses
Akosua Denise Seabrook, Cumberland, MD – 29 counts of drug and firearm related
offenses
Jakela Tonice Watkins, Cumberland, MD – One count, drug-related offense
Leonard Wayne Metzner, Cumberland, MD – Three counts of drug related offenses
Mark Feodor Smith Sr., Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug related offense
Michelle Beth Kline, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug related offense
Sandra Diane Rust, Bedford, PA – Six counts of drug-related offenses
Reginald Murray, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug-related offense
Shane Lee York, Cumberland, MD – Two counts of drug-related offenses
Shawn Alan Mullaney, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug-related offense
Stephanie Ann Blickenstaff, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug-related
offenses
Terry Lee Harris, Keyser, WV – One count of a drug-related offense
Alexis Nicol Fisher, Frostburg, MD – Three counts of drug-related offenses
Brian Borden, Cumberland, MD – Two counts of drug-related offenses
Clayton Shaquille Booker, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug-related offense
Cierra Desiree VanMeter, Cumberland, MD – One count of a drug-related offense
David Dean Howe Jr., Bedford, PA – Six counts of drug-related offenses
Emily Nicole Mitchell, Cumberland, MD – Two counts of drug-related offenses
These suspects were served with their Grand Jury indictments on July 7, 2020,
except for Watkins, Metzner and Fisher. Warrants are outstanding for their
arrests.
Also participating in the investigation was the Cumberland City Police
Department and Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, under the Maryland Criminal
Intelligence Network (MCIN). The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth,
and Victim Services provides grant funding and strategic support to MCIN member
sites to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations through
inter-agency collaboration and data sharing to make Maryland safer.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of drug-related overdose
deaths in Maryland. This escalation is largely attributable to increases in
opiate-related abuse. In response to the alarming trend, Governor Larry Hogan
issued Executive Order 01.01.2015.12, creating the Heroin and Opioid Emergency
Task Force, charged with advising and assisting Governor Hogan in establishing
a coordinated statewide and multi-jurisdictional effort to prevent, treat, and
significantly reduce heroin and opioid abuse. In its final report, the
Governor’s Task Force included 33 recommendations to combat the heroin
epidemic. These included the creation of a multi-jurisdictional Maryland State
Police Heroin Investigation Unit to focus on mid-to-upper-level heroin and
opioid distribution operations.
In 2019, there were 119 non-fatal and 24 fatal overdoses reported in Allegany
County. So far in 2020, the rate of overdoses in the county has increased with
83 non-fatal and 18 fatal overdoses reported to date.
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