Conviction in ‘massive’ Chicago-to-Duluth fentanyl trafficking scheme

Dugs Sized in Chicago-to-Duluth
Fentanyl Trafficking Scheme

(Department of Justice)

DULUTH, Min. & ST. PAUL, Min. – A federal jury found defendant Carl Maurice Brown 32, guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

Brown was part of what the federal government called a “Massive Chicago-to-Duluth Fentanyl Trafficking Scheme”.

The Department of Justice says from December 2021 to February 2024, defendant Ezell Lucas, a/k/a “Cash,” managed a large-scale drug distribution operation (the “Lucas drug trafficking organization” or the “Lucas DTO”) based in Chicago that transported mass quantities of fentanyl to Duluth for sale to drug customers in the Twin Ports region.

They alleged Lucas worked with local drug distributors in Duluth to traffic fentanyl from Chicago and establish a customer base in Duluth.

Lucas directed criminal associates from Chicago, including defendant Carl Brown, to travel to Duluth and conduct the organization’s operations on the ground.

While in Chicago, Lucas fielded calls from drug customers.

Cash Seized in Chicago-to-Duluth Fentanyl Trafficking Scheme

(Department of Justice)

He directed those customers to pre-determined locations in Duluth to meet Lucas’s drug dealers and complete the sales.

The Department of Justice says during a two-year period, law enforcement seized more than 890 grams of fentanyl and 262 grams of methamphetamine from the Lucas DTO over the course of 19 seizure events, including controlled buys, traffic stops, residence search warrants, and a seizure incident to an overdose death.

Brown will be sentenced at a later date.

He faces up to life in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said, “This conviction closes the book on a dangerous fentanyl trafficking ring that pumped poison into northern Minnesota from Chicago… Fentanyl has devastated families and communities across our state, and this case is a powerful reminder: we will not let drug traffickers exploit our cities or our rural communities.  We are grateful to the federal, state, and local partners whose tireless work dismantled this network and helped protect Minnesotans from the lethal fentanyl epidemic.”