United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BATON ROUGE, La. – A federal grand jury recently returned a five-count indictment charging Donovan J. Barker, age 59, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with aiding and abetting a conspiracy to distribute tramadol and carisoprodol, international money laundering, unlawful money transmitting, and possession of tramadol. On Oct. 25, 2018, Barker made his initial appearance in court and pled not guilty to the pending charges.

According to the indictment, Barker owned and operated several businesses, including Quantum Information Technologies, Caring Partners 1, LLC, Don Western Sky, LLC, Life Positive Services, LLC, and Healthy Life 1, LLC. The indictment alleges that although Barker represented that his businesses sold and distributed green tea extracts and herbal supplements, he was actually working with others to import Schedule IV controlled substances into the United States, to re-package and distribute the controlled substances to individuals within the United States who had purchased the substances online, to accept payments from the individual buyers, and to transmit funds from the sales to others operating outside the United States. In addition to charging Barker with aiding and abetting a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, the indictment charges Barker with engaging in international financial transactions to promote the conspiracy, by wiring funds from his business bank accounts in Baton Rouge to India.

The indictment also charges Barker with illegally operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. According to the indictment, from October 2012 through February 2016, Barker received more than $4.6 million in payments—including payments by money order, personal check, and credit card —from individuals all across the United States who had purchased controlled substances and other substances over the internet and who directed their payments to Barker. As Barker received the funds, he wired the majority of the funds out to other individuals and businesses, including, on more than two hundred different occasions, to foreign bank accounts in the Philippines, India, China, and Canada. Through this pattern of activity, according to the indictment, Barker was operating a money transmitting business without an appropriate state license and without complying with the applicable federal registration requirements.

Finally, the indictment alleges that on May 24, 2016, Barker knowingly and intentionally possessed tramadol, a controlled substance, in violation of federal law.

“The DEA is committed to arresting and bringing to justice those who divert and traffic prescription drugs,” said Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Arnett. “Opiate abuse is a major problem in the Baton Rouge area and throughout the nation. The diversion of prescription pain killers contributes to the widespread abuse of opiates, which is devastating our communities. This investigation demonstrates the strength of collaborative law enforcement efforts in this area and our strong partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to aggressively pursue anyone that illicitly distributes these drugs.”

“This indictment demonstrates the lengths to which international drug traffickers will go to deliver drugs and the efforts my office will make to stop them," said U.S. Attorney Brandon J. Fremin. We are committed to eliminating the international financial network used by drug dealers to bring drugs to our country and launder their illegal proceeds. I want to thank our prosecutors and our federal, state, and local partners for their extraordinary efforts in this case.”

This matter is being investigated by the DEA, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The investigation received valuable assistance from the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office, Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office, Plaquemine Police Department, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, Baton Rouge Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions, and the Louisiana State Police.

Parents and children are encouraged to educate themselves about the dangers of drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.

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