19 people indicted for North Texas drug trafficking operation, officials say

Five suspected drug houses have been raided in Dallas by police and federal authorities who say they were being used for years by a major criminal network. 

Authorities say that the network included 19 people who have been indicted and that thousands of dollars in drugs, guns, cash, and jewelry were seized. 

Representatives for North Texas law enforcement agencies, including federal departments, shared Tuesday afternoon that of those 19 people, six remain at large.

Ryan Raybould, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said during a news briefing in Dallas that the indictments are the result of a years-long investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating mostly out of the Fair Park area. 

"Some of these drug houses operated for years," Raybould said. "These weren't temporary stash spots; these were hubs, stable bases of the narcotics enterprise."

According to Raybould, the investigation into the organization began in 2024, and investigators discovered that kilos of drugs – including cocaine – were being distributed from five trap houses located near schools, parks, and community centers. Raybould said the alleged criminal enterprise deprived neighborhoods.

"Freedom didn't fade; it was forced out," he said. "This terrorizes people."

Raybould said some of the trap houses operated for years, with three of them clustered in one neighborhood. 

Authorities say the suspects started dealing cocaine in 2023 and the operation extended across Dallas and released a photo showing what was seized, along with 28,000 grams of cocaine and marijuana. 

Agents seized cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, multiple firearms — including a .50‑caliber Desert Eagle, Glock Model 33, Taurus pistols and other weapons — and more than $40,000 in drug‑related proceeds, along with additional currency and jewelry totaling more than $500,000, the DOJ said in a statement.

The indictment charges a wide range of criminal conduct, including drug‑trafficking conspiracies, money laundering, firearms offenses, drug house operations and unlawful use of communication facilities.

Raybould says many of the drug houses were close to schools, parks and rec centers. He also suspects some of the drugs were being sold around White Rock Lake. 

Joseph Tucker, the special agent in charge of the DEA's Dallas office, said the alleged traffickers were bringing in drugs weekly, and that the operation was highly organized with a set hierarchy, defined roles, and surveillance. He also promised swift action when neighbors report suspected criminal activity.

"We will do our best to work as quickly as we can to rid neighborhoods of that criminal element," he said.

Christopher Altemus Jr., with the IRS-CI Texas Field Office, said his agency was able to solidify the case as financial crime experts because money often acts as the motivating factor. He shared this warning for would-be drug traffickers: "We will take their money, and we will take their freedom."

Raybould noted that all 19 people who were indicted were of legal age. The houses that authorities raided are now vacant and have been boarded up.

Among the agencies present were the Dallas Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.  

The following are categories of the violations of federal drug trafficking and firearms law that the named defendants are alleged to have committed and the sentencing range if convicted, provided by the DOJ:

Conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, 10-life

• Avery Wayne Davis aka AD
• Sterling Lawrence Taylor aka Bo
• Phillip Hernandez-Martinez aka Phillip Martinez-Hernandez

Conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, 5-40 years

• Avery Wayne Davis aka AD
• Sterling Lawrence Taylor aka Bo
• Oltin Coneius Ward aka Lump
• Tiffany Nicole Alphonse
• Samantha Rodriguez a.k.a. Sam aka Bonnie
• Adonis Jamaal Moore aka Mall
• Anthony Taylor aka Ant

Possession with the intent to distribute 0-5 or 0-20 years

• Paul Perkins
• Darrin DeShon Ray

Possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, a mandatory 5 years consecutive to any sentence imposed in other counts

• Avery Wayne Davis aka AD
• Sterling Lawrence Taylor aka Bo
• Adonis Jamaal Moore aka Mall
• Paul Perkins
• Darrin DeShon Ray

Maintaining drug-involved premises and aiding and abetting

• Avery Wayne Davis aka AD
• Sterling Lawrence Taylor aka Bo
• Tiffany Alphonse
• Reteecia Te Shane Handy aka Retecia Handy
• Adonis Jamaal Moore aka Mall
• Anthony Taylor aka Ant
• James Harrison
• Darrin DeShon Ray

Use of a communications facility to further drug trafficking

• James Harrison

Money laundering

• Avery Davis aka AD
• Tiffany Alphonse
• Shydale McNickels aka Missy
• Reteecia Te Shane Handy aka Retecia Handy