News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2011
Contact: Robert J. Hanson
Number: 314-538-4670

Jury Convicts Three Defendants of Charges Related to Multi-Million Dollar Drug-Trafficking Conspiracy

Mexican Drug Cartels Smuggled Hundreds of Kilograms of Cocaine to Kansas City

JUL 06 -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri announced that two Kansas City, Missouri men and a St. Paul, Minnesota man were convicted by a federal jury for their roles in one of the largest cocaine trafficking rings in the Kansas City area.

Operation Blockbuster dismantled a local drug-trafficking organization that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine worth millions of dollars from Mexico to distribute in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Operation Blockbuster was a multi-agency investigation that also involved the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas, resulting in three separate indictments charging 31 defendants.

Dandrae L. Jones, also known as “Bird,â€