CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The last man in a drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty Tuesday, ending the case that saw West Virginia’s biggest methamphetamine seizure in history.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson gathered with law enforcement partners to announce that, Tres Avery Davis, 36, of Charleston pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl in the case of Operation Smoke and Mirrors.
Davis admitted that he delivered approximately 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl to a Kemp Avenue address in Charleston in March of last year and he also admitted that he was going to distribute some of those pills to other people.
Davis was among 31 defendants who were convicted in the case, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on January 9, 2025.
Thompson said that this organization was big enough to control the price of methamphetamine coming into the country.
“This was such a large organization that it was directly involved in setting the price of methamphetamine across the country, by raising the price of methamphetamine into the United States based on fluctuation and the currency conversion rate.” Thompson said.
With the work of eleven different agencies, Thompson and his law enforcement partners, were able to bring down the organization that they traced all the way back to California.
And FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said that even though the operation is closed, they are still working every day to make the streets safer for everyone.
“We are using every single tool at our disposal to rid our communities of these substances,” Rojek said. “Of the violence that comes with them and of the people who are doing this.”
DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge for West Virgina J.T. Scroggs said that while West Virginia leads in drug related deaths, operations like this are crucial to stopping drugs from hitting the streets anywhere.
“While West Virginia leads the nation in drug poisonings deaths per capita, partnerships like one of the agencies that you see standing before you are crucial, these partnerships put those people who trade in illegal drugs on notice,” Scroggs said. “If you sling your poison in our communities, we will be relentless in our efforts to bring you to justice.”