10 accused in North Little Rock drugs case

Ten people arrested Tuesday on gun and drug charges are accused of being part of a North Little Rock-based drug trafficking organization that distributed marijuana and opioids in and around Pulaski County.

The 10, including a man in Clarkson, Wash., were among 12 people named in a federal grand jury indictment handed up March 6 and unsealed Tuesday. One of the other defendants was already in custody, and the other has been issued a summons to appear in court.

The 26-count indictment alleges that Michael B. Webb Jr. directed the organization that was responsible for the distribution of marijuana, oxycodone, Ecstasy and alprazolam (Xanax). The indictment also alleges that Terry W. Morrison, who is also known as “T,” supplied the organization with marijuana by shipping it through the mail from Washington state to central Arkansas.

The investigation, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, was part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force case dubbed “Wheelin and Dealin,” according to Cody Hiland, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Justin C. King, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Little Rock field office.

“The opioid epidemic has inflicted an unprecedented toll of addiction and suffering on communities throughout our nation,” Hiland said in a news release. “We recognize the Eastern District of Arkansas is not immune to this epidemic, and we will continue to work with the DEA and our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue and prosecute those who illegally traffic these deadly substances.”

During the investigation, Hiland and King said, law enforcement officers used three court-authorized wiretaps, executed three search warrants, and made nine controlled buys and seizures. They said the officers seized nine guns, 189 oxycodone pills, 187 Xanax pills, 61 Ecstasy pills and several pounds of marijuana.