Edgewood Fentanyl Trafficker Tied To Cartel: U.S. Attorney

BALTIMORE, MD — A Harford County man is one of three people indicted in a fentanyl dealing operation that authorities allege has ties to Mexican drug cartels. Officials say they have seized enough fentanyl so far in the investigation to kill the entire population of Maryland.

Nevone McCrimmon, 47, of Edgewood, was indicted on the federal charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

McCrimmon, of the 2200 block of Retreat Court in Edgewood, was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 8, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

The Harford County resident was one of three "high-ranking members of a Baltimore-based drug trafficking organization" that distributed heroin, fentanyl and other substances in the Baltimore metropolitan area after obtaining the substances from out of state.

The two other Maryland men involved in the case — William Elijah, 51, and Terrance Mobley, 50, both of Baltimore — are being held pending trial, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege McCrimmon, Elijah and Mobley began meeting regularly with a courier in fall 2017 to deliver large amounts of cash in Miami.

In exchange for the cash, prosecutors said the trio received kilogram-quantities of narcotics from the Sinaloa cartel. The drugs were delivered from the Mexican cartel to a contact in Ventura County, California, then shipped to Maryland, according to authorities.

The Sinaloa cartel is one of five transnational criminal organizations that the Department of Justice says it has made a priority to dismantle due to its use of criminal activities like drug trafficking to get power and money, protected through a pattern of corruption and violence.

Prosecutors said they have seized more than $500,000 in cash and 20 kilograms of fentanyl so far as part of the investigation into the three Maryland men.

"As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, and the 20 kilograms of fentanyl seized in this case to date is enough to kill 10 million people—more than one and a half times the population of Maryland," Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a statement. "Fentanyl is one of the most lethal threats facing Maryland right now."

Fentanyl was involved in more than 78 percent of fatal overdoses during the first half of 2018, according to state health officials. The synthetic opioid has claimed more lives than heroin in the state, a trend that began in the beginning of 2017, officials said.

There were 1,038 deadly fentanyl overdoses between January and June 2018, an average of about 5.7 deaths a day statewide, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

"We are working with our partners to attack the sources of supply, as well as the street dealers who are committing the most violence in our neighborhoods," Hur said in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 8.

Each man charged in the fentanyl distribution conspiracy faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison if convicted.

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• Maryland Has One Of Highest Overdose Death Rates: CDC

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