Federal operation dismantles the major drug network in the center of Arkansas with 27 arrests

Little Rock, AR – An arrest operation led to the arrest of twenty -seven people. The operation was announced by Jonathon D. Ross, the United States lawyer for the eastern district of Arkansas, and Warner Benson, a special assistant agent responsible for the DE Little Rock Field office.

They were accused of carrying large amounts of fentanel, methamphetamine and cocaine in the center of Arkansas.

Federal and state agencies were involved in a series of arrests in Pickki County on Tuesday, March 11, given a continuous drug trafficking investigation.

Following the arrests, today a federal replacement indictment was disgusted, specifying Eric Dillard, 44, and Jimmie McDaniels, 49, both from Little Rock as heads of the drug organization.

27 out of 29 arrested defendants were listed in the indictment. The effort was coordinated by a team of law enforcement agencies in the area.

According to a statement, Dillard was already in federal prison, based on a federal indictment against him on September 11, 2024.

The substitute indictment was restored by a large federal jury on March 4, 2025.

Along with the fact that they were accused of a series of drug and weapons offenses, the defendants were accused of additional charges, include conspiracy for distribution and detention with the intention of distributing fentanil, methamphetamine and cocaine, a crime in possession of a firearm and holding a firearm regarding a trafficking crime.

“The lethanil’s lethality requires our continuous settlement to give priority to these types of investigations,” Ross said. “We will also maintain the emphasis on other fatal drugs, such as methamphetamine, which remains the most abused drugs in our state and cocaine, both being involved in this case.”

The arrests come as a result of an investigation of the working group (OCDETF) that started in September 2023. The investigation involved shopping controlled by Fentanil and was the confiscation of 19 firearms and about one kilogram of fentanil. Authorities believe that the organization has treated hundreds of pounds of fentanil in Arkansas.

The law enforcement agencies have intercepted numerous telephone calls on fentanel traffic and layer profits by conspiracy members through a variety of channels to hide the source of the receipts.

Over $ 100,000 in illegal revenues were confiscated by law enforcement during the investigation.

“This morning’s arrest operation represents a significant blow for a criminal network that flooded our communities with Fentanil dead,” said DEA assistant agent Warner Benson. “Together with our federal, state and local partners, we hired to prove these organizations and protect the citizens of Arkansas Central from the devastating consequences of drug trafficking.”

The defendants are scheduled to be referred to the judge of the United States magistrate on Thursday, Jerome T. Kearney on Thursday. The case is criminally prosecuted by the US assistant prosecutor Lauren Eldridge.