Two more arrested in Operation High Life

Two more arrested in Operation High Life

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The arrest total in a sweeping multi-agency year-and-a-half-long drug investigation in Neshoba County has climbed to 35 from the initial 33 arrests with three individuals still at large.

“There are three people we are still searching for but the rest are accounted for,” Sheriff Eric Clark said.

Shaun Robert Dougherty, 36, of 105 Indian Hills Spur, was arrested and charged on Thursday, May 20. Dougherty received seven charges of conspiracy to commit a felony. He remains in the Neshoba County Detention Center on $105,000 bond.

Jaedeius Sintel “Dee” Peebles, 31, of 274 Lewis Avenue, was arrested and charged Wednesday, May 19, with nine charges of conspiracy to commit a felony. Peebles was arrested Wednesday, May 19, in the morning and bonded out the following evening on $27,000 bond.

The three who remain at large are John Netherland, Caleb Smith and Timothy Stewart.

The multi-agency investigation, dubbed Operation High Life, was led by Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans.

More than 27 people were arrested on Friday, May 14. The arrests were led by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the Neshoba County Sheriff’s office, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Neshoba County District Attorney and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians as well as others following a multi-year investigation in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans.

“The arrest culminating Operation High Life is a definitive example of the coalesced commitment among local, state and federal law enforcement to ensure public safety for all Mississippians,” said Col. Steven A. Maxwell, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. “However, the seizure of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana is a clear indicator of how pervasive the drug culture is throughout our communities. These drugs were attributed to the loss of more than 500 Mississippians in 2020.”

Clark said Operation High Life has taken more than $5 million in illegal drugs off the streets of Neshoba County.

Previously, the ongoing investigation had resulted in 38 state and federal convictions and the seizure of 85 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of $3.5 million, 5 kilograms of cocaine worth about $500,000, 270 pounds of marijuana worth $1 million, 300 dosage units of fentanyl worth about $6,000, and 16 firearms.

It is the result of ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force efforts statewide.

The investigation included Homeland Security Investigations Jackson, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Drug Enforcement Agency, Neshoba County District Attorney and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians as well as others.

The investigation’s most recent conviction occurred last Wednesday, with the sentencing of Landon Marquale Dupree, 35, of Philadelphia, who was charged with and pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Mississippi to selling methamphetamine to an individual on July 15, 2019. Dupree was sentenced to serve 189 months in federal prison, followed by eight years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $4,595 in restitution to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.






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