57 charged in large drug trafficking conspiracy

The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS» Federal authorities have charged 57 members of several white supremacist prison gangs in a large North Texas drug trafficking and kidnapping conspiracy following a joint investigation by federal, state and local police agencies.

Officials arrested 42 of the gang members last week, U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said Monday morning during a news conference.

Nine others were already in custody for unrelated state charges, and six are still being sought, she said.

The defendants are linked to several violent and racist prison gangs that include the Aryan Circle, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, the Peckerwoods, the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, and the Dirty White Boys, the indictment says.

“It is clear that these hate-fueled gangs will do whatever they must do in order to carry on their drug trafficking business,” Nealy Cox said. “Firearms, body armor, illegal drugs, drug proceeds and unspeakable physical violence are the tools of their trade.”

The conspiracy to sell methamphetamine ran from October 2015 through April 2018 and employed “stash houses” to store the drug, according to the indictment.

Four of the defendants kidnapped a non-member in January over an alleged $600 drug debt and held him for several days during which they tortured him, Nealy Cox said. They put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. They also hit him on the back of his head with a large wooden object and chopped off a portion of his left index finger with a hatchet, Nealy Cox said.

Agents seized about $376,500 in cash and intercepted more than 190 kilograms of methamphetamine along with 31 firearms, Nealy Cox said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety criminal investigations division led the investigation with help from the Texas Anti-Gang Center and Dallas police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Not only do white supremacists gangs subscribe to a repugnant, hateful ideology, they also engage in significant, organized and violent criminal activity,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.

Authorities say some defendants also were linked to a Hispanic prison gang called Tango Blast. Nealy Cox noted that the defendants’ “criminal ends overcome their racist views.”

One of the defendants, Joshua David Lane, did not want to be taken into custody peacefully, according to a federal complaint.

The complaint describes the arrest in detail.

Agents tracked Lane to a La Quinta Inn & Suites on Airport Freeway in Euless on Nov. 27, 2017.

They had warrants for burglary and motor theft.

They found methamphetamine and a 7.62mm rifle in the motel room. A stolen F-250 pickup truck with two body armor vests and methamphetamine was in the parking lot. But Lane was not there so they waited for him.

Later in the day, Lane arrived at the motel in a stolen GMC Yukon Denali with a female passenger.

When Lane parked, he noticed agents closing in on him. He put the vehicle in reverse and crashed into an unmarked police vehicle while reaching for something that agents believed could be a gun. A DPS agent shot him. Lane was treated at a hospital and booked into the Tarrant County jail on a federal drug charge.

Agents found a pistol in the front center console, a pistol in the radio compartment and a semi-automatic assault rifle on the rear floorboard.