Affidavit details DEA probe leading to arrest in Houston to Y'town cocaine operation

YOUNGSTOWN

A criminal complaint and affidavit unsealed Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio detailed the work agents did to investigate a scheme by two city men to smuggle cocaine from the Houston area to Youngstown.

One of those men, Kewan Clark, 23, is in federal custody on a charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. A detention hearing for him will be Thursday before U.S. Magisrtate Judge George Limbert.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents also served a search warrant at Clark’s Glen Oaks home Saturday after surveilling the courier’s trip back from Texas, setting up surveillance on Interstate 71 from Columbus to Akron. The affidavit said agents found $3,000 in cash, along with six kilograms of cocaine, four firearms and a bulletproof vest.

The courier has not yet been charged.

The affidavit said that agents were first approached in August by an informant who told them Clark was selling drugs he bought in from Texas, and that he used a courier with a specific car to bring the drugs back to Youngstown. The courier would make the drive twice a month and bring between 10 and 15 kilograms of cocaine each time, the affidavit siad.

Agents in Youngstown checked in with agents in Texas, who used a database that showed that car was caught on tape in Texas in July, three times in August and also on Oct. 15, the affidavit said.

After the Oct. 15 sighting, agents got a search warrant for the courier’s cellphone, which showed him at a hotel in the Houston area as well as in several stores and two different airports, including the George Bush International Airport.

The courier’s phone was also picked up at a Greyhound bus station in Pittsburgh to Youngstown. A few days later, the cellphone was tracked to a bus station in Akron, and from there it was determined that the courier was on his way to Houston.

On Saturday, after the courier was spotted on Interstate 71, agents watched Clark’s house and saw the courier pull in the drive. A short while later, they served the search warrant, according to the affidavit.

Also found during the search was heroin and marijuana, the affidavit said.