What to Know
- Federal prosecutors say 27 people conspired to traffic heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.
- A Prince George's County Public Schools teacher is among those accused.
- Eight suspects remain at large.
More than two dozen people in D.C. and Maryland face federal charges for allegedly conspiring to traffic heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in the D.C. area.
Twenty-seven people, including a Prince George's County teacher, are accused of participating in the drug ring, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. announced Friday.
Federal agents and local police officers searched a whopping 21 locations in the D.C. area on Thursday, including 11 sites in Prince George's County, four in D.C. and one each in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and Montgomery counties. They seized more than four pounds of cocaine, 200 grams of heroin, 16 guns, six vehicles and $40,000 in cash.
Prince George's County Public Schools teacher Zenja Truitt, 47, of Upper Marlboro, was arrested and charged with distributing cocaine and heroin.
A total of 17 people were arrested Thursday. Another suspect turned himself in on Friday, another already was in custody and eight suspects remain at large.
Terrance Antonio Thomas, 46, of Temple Hills, and Darius Wilson, 40, of Waldorf, were charged in two indictments unsealed Thursday. Eleven other people were charged in one of the two cases; fourteen others were charged in the second case.
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U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu said the arrests help protect D.C. residents.
"By breaking up these trafficking networks, we hope to cut off supply of heroin, cocaine and other drugs, and make our neighborhoods safer," she said in a statement.
Truitt, the PGCPS teacher, remains employed by the school district, a district spokesman said. She appeared in court Friday afternoon and was ordered held pending a hearing Monday afternoon.
