Arkansas prominent in DEA four-state cartel, narcotics sweep

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced on Tuesday that a week-long four-state sweep targeting the Jalisco New Generation cartel resulted in multiple arrests in Arkansas.

DEA officials reported that 670 arrests were made during the operation. The New Orleans Division accounted for 47 of those arrests, with 25 taking place in the state, seven of those arrests were in Fort Smith, two in Fayetteville, and 16 in Little Rock.

“The fact that the New Orleans Division recorded the fourth-highest number of domestic arrests during this surge—with over half those arrests occurring in Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Fayetteville—underscores the severe and imminent threat CJNG [cartel] poses to our communities, particularly in Arkansas,” said DEA New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer. “We are taking the fight directly to this cartel and will not relent. The DEA and our partners are committed to dismantling these networks and protecting our citizens from their poison.”

DEA New Orleans is responsible for Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Officials said total seizures during the Sept. 22 to 26 operation were:

• 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder,
• 1,157,672 counterfeit pills,
• 6,062 kilograms of methamphetamine,
• 22,842 kilograms of cocaine
• 33 kilograms of heroin
• $18,644,105 in currency
• $29,694,429 in assets
• 244 guns

DEA officials stated that the agency is committed to dismantling CJNG’s command, control, and distribution networks, as well as continuing to pursue CJNG co-founder and leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho. He remains one of DEA’s most wanted fugitives and the subject of a reward of up to $15 million under the U.S. Department of State Narcotics Rewards Program.