According to a press release from the TBI, In the largest methamphetamine investigation/enforcement action in the city’s history, Chief John Drake and TBI Director David Rausch today announced the dismantling of a California to Nashville meth trafficking organization responsible for shipping an estimated 5,000 pounds of the drug into this city in recent years. From the beginning of the investigation in November 2022 through last month, law enforcement has intercepted and seized shipments containing more than 800 pounds of meth and 24 pounds of fentanyl,preventing these highly addictive and potentially deadly substances from being distributed onto the streets of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Thirteen persons are named in a multi-count Davidson County grand jury indictment that alleges a series of drug conspiracy, drug distribution, and gun crimes. Among those charged is Francisco Velasquez Serrano, 34, of La Puenta, California, who is accused of being the source of the meth shipments sent to Nashville. Serrano is known to have traveled to Nashville as late as September of this year to deliver multiple pounds of drugs and meet with his co-conspirators. He was extradited from California to Nashville last week.
Two Nashville men are alleged to have been at the top of the meth distribution operation, heading two separate groups, James Maurice Butler, 24, and Jeffrey Carl Jones, 40. They arranged for the shipments to be delivered to various addresses, retrieval and storage of the drugs, and distribution. Other principals in this case include: 2 individuals from Antioch, 3 individuals from California, and 4 individuals from Nashville.