A single-vehicle crash on Route 100 in Glen Burnie last year tipped investigators off to a large-scale drug organization reaching from Anne Arundel and Howard counties to New Jersey and California.
And now 11 county residents are among 18 people charged in connection with the operation, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland has announced.
About 250 law enforcement agents on Tuesday executed search and arrest warrants at 17 residences and businesses in Maryland, five in New Jersey and one in California.
More than a dozen people were arrested and at least 30 vehicles, 60 pounds of marijuana, $300,000 in cash and 35 firearms were seized by law enforcement.
Charged with conspiring to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana are:
- Kerem "Kenny" or "Cashmir" Dayi, 40, of Gambrills and California.
- Scott Russell Segal, 31, of Glen Burnie and Hanover.
- Martin Dandy, 31, of Arnold.
- Ryan Burton Wheeler, 32, of Annapolis.
- Anthony Caesar "Bo" Santoiemma, 43, of Annapolis.
- Anthony Evans Owings Seen, 26, of Glen Burnie.
- Christopher John Garner, 41, of Hanover.
- Frederick Blair Thomas, 31, of Glen Burnie.
- Sae Hyong Hwang, 33, of Odenton.
- Robert Randall Glickman, 61, of Dallas.
- Gabriel Gonzalez, 26, of no known address.
- Gokahn Bergal, 29, of New Jersey.
- Steven Neil Madden, 43, of Randallstown.
- Patrick Russo, 39, of New Jersey.
- Charles Michael Thomson, 62, of Minnesota.
Except for Thomson, all of these defendants also are charged with conspiring to launder the drug proceeds.
Three others are charged with marijuana conspiracy:
- Alexandros Lineberry, 36, of Arnold.
- Jeffrey Dennis Small, 32, of Annapolis.
- Donald Goodman, 63, of Baltimore.
According to court documents, the group operated a drug trafficking organization in Anne Arundel and Howard counties, mainly dealing marijuana but also cocaine and diverted pharmaceuticals.
According to those documents, investigators were tipped off to the organization on Jan. 7, 2012, when Thomas, of Glen Burnie, crashed his car on Route 100 at Quarterfield Road.
Inside the car, police found a shrink-wrapped package of 590 grams of marijuana, a money-counting machine, a tally sheet and 126 bank money bands for $2,000.
Investigation revealed that Dayi, of Gambrills, was the leader of an extensive drug organization and would get marijuana from contacts in California and New Jersey, the court documents say.
He would allegedly have 20-plus pounds of marijuana shipped, or 50 to 400 pounds of marijuana driven, into Maryland at a time.
Court documents say Dayi directed the storage of marijuana at homes he or members of the organization rented and managed. He also orchestrated the transfer of marijuana and cash between Maryland, California, Ohio and New Jersey.
Dayi supplied the drugs to Segal, of Glen Burnie and Hanover, who allegedly acted as the main wholesale distributor in Anne Arundel and stashed the marijuana in a home off Interstate 97.
Santoiemma, of Annapolis, is accused of brokering deals on behalf of Dayi and pulling commission from the sales.
Cash made from the sales was sewn into handbags and given to young women involved in the drug organization, who would fly from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport to California, where they would deliver the cash to the source of the marijuana supply.
Affidavits allege that Wheeler, of Annapolis, was a wholesale cocaine customer of Dayi and supplied marijuana and cocaine to others by the ounce and pound to others for sale.
Others in the organization allegedly bought and sold drugs, laundered money and operated the eBay business Krush, NYC LLC, a front for marijuana distribution and the laundering of proceeds.
Some within the organization are accused of laundering the drug proceeds by smuggling bulk cash in cars, sending cash through the mail, structuring deposits into bank accounts and withdrawing in other states, and by investing money into and removing it from businesses operated by members of the conspiracy, the affidavit says.
Each of the defendants faces life in prison for drug conspiracy, while the 14 charged with money laundering face 20 years in prison.