Four Hoosiers Charged in Drug Trafficking Enterprise, 3 Tons of Marijuana Seized

STATEWIDE — Federal agents and several Indiana law enforcement offices worked together to bring down a drug-trafficking enterprise with assets worth over 40-million dollars.

The United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Indiana announced Friday that fifteen people have been charged with trafficking semi-truckloads of drugs and money laundering, which includes several suspects in Indiana and key parts of the operation taking place in the Hoosier State.

Adewale Adediran is accused of being the leader of the operation. According to the indictment, from 2016 until this year, Adediran and his partners used warehouses, “commercial-level logistics”, semi-trucks and airplanes to distribute over 40-million dollars worth of marijuana throughout the United States and bring in millions of dollars in cash. The indictment says the suspects used cashier’s checks and bank accounts to launder the money. Agents have seized over three tons of marijuana and THC-containing products and firearms, worth over 10-million-dollars.

Adediran was arrested in California. Ten of the suspects, which includes Adediran, have been arrested. Four of those arrested are from Indiana. Police are still looking for the other five.

These are the names of the suspects and their charges:

Other than guns and drugs, police also seized or restrained cash and bank accounts totaling over $8 million; a private jet valued at $900,000; numerous luxury automobiles, including two Rolls-Royces, two Bentleys, a Ford GT, and a Lamborghini, valued at $2 million; high-end jewelry valued at over $8 million; numerous pieces of artwork and collectible items valued at $850,000; and nine pieces of real estate with a total value of $10 million.

Charge details and law enforcement acknowledgements pulled from the press release:

“If convicted on the conspiracy with intent to distribute marijuana charges, each face between ten years to life imprisonment, no less than five years supervised release, and a $10,000,000 fine. If convicted on the continuing criminal enterprise charge, Adediran faces a mandatory twenty years up to lifetime imprisonment, no more than five years supervised release, and a $2,000,000 fine. If convicted on the money laundering charge, each faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine. Actual sentences are determined by a federal district court judge and are typically less than the maximum penalties.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Indianapolis Field Office, and Justin Campbell, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office made the announcement.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Brownsburg Police Department, the Clarksville Police Department, the Southern Indiana Drug Task Force (Jeffersonville Police Dept, New Albany Police Dept, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, and Floyd County Sheriff’s Office), and the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force investigated the case in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle P. Brady, who is prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Rota, who is handling asset forfeiture in this case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”