16 arrested in weapons and drug trafficking operation in Tucson

DEA: 16 arrested in Tucson were part of major drug-trafficking ring


  • Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star
  • Updated 5 min ago





  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement


Federal agents serving search warrants in the Tucson area on Nov. 3, 2016 during an investigation into drug trafficking.


Sixteen people in the Tucson-area were arrested in a multi-agency investigation dealing with weapons, heroin and marijuana trafficking, authorities said Thursday.

The Tucson organization is tied to the Sinaloa drug cartel, said Drug Enforcement Administration officials at a news conference at the federal agency's office.

Since August 2015, the organization moved more than $1 million worth of heroin, marijuana and firearms from here to several states on the East Coast, said Doug Coleman, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration.


Shipments were moved from here to Virginia and Maryland, said Jeremy Jolles, assistant special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. In addition to Tucson, search warrants were also served in Douglas and Winslow, he said.

More than 100 law enforcement personnel from a dozen federal, state and local agencies were involved in Thursday's operation that led to the arrests and seizure of 11 weapons, $12,000 in cash and two pounds of heroin and cocaine, authorities said. DEA also worked this operation with sources in Mexico, said Coleman.

The organization is also responsible for laundering drug money. Seizures also included more than a half dozen vehicles, multiple computers and cell phones, along with several ledgers and scales, said authorities.


The Pima County Sheriff's Department began an investigation into the organization after receiving a tip about suspicious activity occurring in an east-side neighborhood, said Capt. Deanna Johnson of the sheriff's special investigations division.

The department then learned that DEA and Homeland Security Investigations were also investigating other facets of the organization. The three agencies continued working the investigation together, Johnson said.


Among those arrested in the Tucson-area were Sean Player Dixon, 42, who was linked to dealing and transporting heroin and marijuana throughout Tucson and the East Coast states.

Also arrested were Dixon's wife, Pauline Dixon, 42; and his nephews, Terrence Gooden, 34, Ricky Manning Jr.; and his niece Janeayi Manning-Qualls, 33.

Others arrested were Raymond Pro, 39; Virgil Fleming, 45; Teresa Torres, 73; Ezekiel Jackson, 28; Robert Glaspie, Jr., 25; Enrique Estrada, 44; Andres Acedo, 36; Jennifer Ann Estrada, 38; and Rosalva Perez, 56. Two others were taken into custody earlier, authorities said.

The investigation is ongoing and several suspects being sought remain at large, said officials.

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