Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Five men are facing felony charges, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, a Felony Y, following a multi-agency drug task force raid at a Jonesboro residence on July 1.
According to probable cause affidavits, Second Drug Task Force (DTF) agents executed a search warrant at a residence on Cedar Heights Drive as part of an ongoing, two-month narcotics investigation. Over the course of the investigation, agents used surveillance, photographs, and video recordings to document an organized network operating out of the residence to distribute multiple types of narcotics, including marijuana and Oxycodone pills.
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As agents arrived to execute the warrant, they encountered several suspects outside the home. Dadarius Daquin Anderson was arrested after exiting the front door with a small child and sitting on the front steps. He was found with 2.7 grams of marijuana packaged in a plastic bag.
Two other men, Willie Lee Evans and Dequantel Savar Evans, were taken into custody outside the residence. Authorities stated both men were acting as lookouts. Dequantel Evans was found in possession of a handgun at the time of his arrest.
Inside the home, agents discovered six small children asleep. A search of the downstairs living spaces revealed a loaded Glock 17 handgun, which has been reported stolen out of Trumann. The weapon was hidden directly under a couch cushion on which children were sleeping. Investigators also found 2.5 grams of marijuana packaged for sale, five boxes of clear plastic packaging bags, and a large bag containing marijuana residue, the affidavit said.
Upstairs, agents located another loaded handgun, a Glock 43X, under a bed pillow, alongside four Oxycodone pills packaged for sale and an additional 2.3 grams of packaged marijuana.
The primary target of the investigation, Brandon Larrell Williams, 30, reportedly fled out the back door as agents arrived but was subsequently apprehended. Investigators discovered Williams’ wallet, identification, and clothing from the previous day in an upstairs bedroom and GPS data from an ankle monitor Williams was wearing confirmed he had stayed at the residence overnight and remained there until the search warrant was executed.
Affidavits noted that the home sits within 1,000 feet of both a city park and a school bus route, and that Williams has a prior 2016 felony conviction for manslaughter.
A fifth individual, Derrick Brown, approached the scene while agents were still on the property, the affidavit said. Because Brown is on probation with an active search waiver, agents escorted him to his apartment on Belt Street. A subsequent search of his apartment turned up 47.6 grams of marijuana divided into three plastic bags, a digital scale, and a measuring cup used to weigh narcotics. Officials noted that Brown admitted the items belonged to him.
All five suspects were booked into jail and face a variety of charges. They appeared before Judge Tommy Fowler, who found probable cause to charge them.
Williams is charged with the following:
- Simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms
- Continuing criminal enterprise
- Offenses related to records, maintaining premises, etc.
- Possession of a firearm by certain persons
- Possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance with purpose to deliver
- First-degree endangering the welfare of a minor
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Theft by receiving a firearm
- Delivery of a Schedule VI controlled substance
- Possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with purpose to deliver
His bond was set at $250,000 cash-only with GPS monitoring required upon release.
Anderson faces the following charges:
- Continuing criminal enterprise
- Offenses related to records, maintaining premises, etc.
- Theft by receiving a firearm
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- First-degree endangering the welfare of a minor
- Possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with purpose to deliver
His bond was set at $150,000 cash/surety.
Willie Lee Evans and Dequantel Savar Evans are both charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, with bonds set at $150,000 each, cash/surety.
Brown is charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with the purpose to deliver, and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $150,000, cash/surety
All five individuals are scheduled to appear in court next at the Craighead County Courthouse on August 21.
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