Six people are facing criminal charges after authorities seized more than 13 kilos of cocaine last weekend at Detroit Metro Airport.
The discovery of the drugs in checked luggage was part of a scheme with ties to Oakland County and Arizona, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Authorities say Kwana Spears, Anthony Carrencjie, Carl Hardwick and Carrie Burks possessed controlled substances with an intent to deliver them. Two other defendants, David Matlock and Nikita Brackett, aided and abetted in the scheme, according to the complaint.
The case began to unfold in the spring, when a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration obtained a judge's permission to collect GPS data and intercept wire and electronic communications on one of Matlock's phones.
Investigators intercepted calls between Matlock and Spears that revealed Spears had acquired drugs from a drug supplier, according to the complaint.
Authorities say Spears traveled from Las Vegas to the area of Phoenix, Arizona and met with the supplier there on April 5. Then, on April 8, she and another woman flew to Detroit. After their plane arrived, law enforcement officers seized and searched their checked luggage, discovering six brick-shaped packages that contained 8.47 kilograms of cocaine.
Then on July 2, authorities intercepted phone calls between several suspects that revealed a plan to bring more drugs to Detroit.
Five days later, on July 7, Matlock traveled from Phoenix to Detroit. Carrencjie, Hardwick and Burks flew into Detroit from Las Vegas.
Matlock was arrested at the airport with several cell phones. Authorities arrested Carrencjie, Hardwick and Burks there, too, and seized more than 13 kilos of cocaine in their luggage, the complaint said. Brackett was also arrested at the airport driving a vehicle registered to Hardwick.
The same day, authorities searched three locations in Oakland County connected to the case. At an address on Sadsbury Drive in West Bloomfield Township, investigators found 492.1 grams of heroin, a shotgun, a money counter, scales, drug packaging materials and what appeared to be a fake Arizona driver's license with a photo of Brackett.
At a location on Kindling Court in West Bloomfield, investigators found documents with Matlock's name and two handguns, one of which was stolen. And finally, a search of a location on Rosewood Street in Oak Park turned up counterfeit money, two handguns, and several fraudulent Arizona driver's licenses.
Hardwick, Burks, Carrencjie and Brackett have detention hearings Thursday, and Matlock and Spears have detention hearings Friday, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A Stafford.
Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.
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