LITTLE ROCK— Fifteen defendants are in custody after a DEA operation led to several arrests this morning as part of a federal drug investigation. Operation Mad Hatter has resulted in the identification of several drug traffickers and the seizure of large quantities of cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Operation Mad Hatter, run by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, is an ongoing DEA Domestic Cartel Initiative investigation. Today’s arrests follow the unsealing of an indictment of 19 individuals who were charged by a federal grand jury on August 7, 2019. Of those, 15 are now in custody, and law enforcement has made contact with the remaining four defendants. In February 2019, DEA made the first arrests related to Operation Mad Hatter, and today’s arrests stem from activity uncovered during the ongoing investigation. Ten defendants had been arrested throughout the investigation, and the remaining five were arrested this morning, completing this phase of the operation.

During the course of Operation Mad Hatter, investigators have seized 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, 4 kilograms of cocaine, 249 grams of crack cocaine, over 1 kilogram of heroin, over 200 diverted prescription pills, over $107,000 in assets, and numerous firearms.      MORE