Shawn Bell, 54, of Cheltenham Township, is among the 10 members of the Philadelphia-based Jones-Basley Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) who have been indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and related offenses, United States Attorney David Metcalf announced today.
The takedown resulted in the seizure of over $8 million in cocaine and multiple firearms. In total, along with partners in other districts, over $17 million in cocaine was seized over the course of the investigation, Sunday said.
As alleged in the indictment, the Jones-Basley DTO, led by Gregory Jones, aka “Smallz,” 48, of Philadelphia, and Edward Basley, aka “Beeb,” 47, of Wayne, coordinated with a Mexican drug cartel to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to Philadelphia, with the DTO pushing between $5 million and $10 million dollars’ worth of cocaine onto the city’s streets every month.
Jones and Basley are both charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Their eight co-defendants—Bell, Jabari Savage, 46, Renard Brown, 43, Jermaine Singleton, 52, Farid Haddad, 48, and David McField, 43, all of Philadelphia, Orenthial Bailey, 50, of Temple, Texas, and Eduard Amador, 38, of Manassas, Virginia—are charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The indictment alleges that they are active members or associates of the Jones-Basley DTO.
“Literal truckloads of cocaine have been seized as a result of this case and kept from flooding our city,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Know that the investigation is ongoing and there will more arrests to come. We, the FBI, and the Philadelphia Police Department are zeroing in on the drug traffickers and cartels poisoning our neighborhoods and communities.”
If convicted, all the defendants face maximum possible sentences of life imprisonment, Sunday said.
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