United States Drug Enforcement Administration

INDIANAPOLIS – Michael J. Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana announced that a federal grand jury has indicted 15 people on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Specifically, the indictment charges the defendants with a conspiracy to distribute semi-truckload quantities of marijuana and THC-containing products and to launder the bulk cash proceeds from selling the drugs. Adewale Adediran, the alleged leader of the conspiracy, was also charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. Nathan Canary was charged with firearms-related offenses.

The charges are being announced today following a week-long effort by federal agents, in conjunction with state and local law enforcement partners in Indiana, California, Kentucky, and Florida, to arrest the charged defendants and seize drugs and drug proceeds. Over the past seven days, authorities have arrested 10 of the defendants, executed search warrants at 23 different locations in three states, and executed seizure warrants on over a dozen bank accounts and a trove of high-end jewelry. Five defendants remain at large.

According to the indictment, from 2016 until this year, Adediran and the drug trafficking organization he led used commercial-level logistics and warehousing to distribute large quantities of marijuana throughout the United States and collect millions of dollars in cash proceeds. The indictment alleges that the organization utilized commercial trucking and airplanes to facilitate the shipment of tractor-trailer loads of marijuana to warehouses and other commercial locations in various states, including Indiana. The indictment further alleges that the organization used semi-trucks and an airplane to transport large quantities of cash back to Adediran and his co-conspirators in California, and later, used cashier’s checks and bank accounts to launder the proceeds. Adediran was arrested in California and was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service pending trial.

To date in this investigation, authorities have seized or restrained nearly $40 million in drugs, alleged drug proceeds, and assets purchased with drug proceeds. Authorities have seized over three tons of marijuana and THC-containing products, valued at over $10 million, along with over a dozen firearms. In addition to the drug and gun seizures, authorities have seized or restrained cash and bank accounts totaling over $8 million; a private jet valued at $900,000; numerous luxury automobiles, including two Rolls-Royces, two Bentleys, a Ford GT, and a Lamborghini, valued at $2 million; high-end jewelry valued at over $8 million; numerous pieces of artwork and collectible items valued at $850,000; and nine pieces of real estate with a total value of $10 million.

The following defendants were charged in the indictment:

If convicted on the conspiracy with intent to distribute marijuana charges, each face between ten years to life imprisonment, no less than five years supervised release, and a $10 million fine. If convicted on the continuing criminal enterprise charge, Adediran faces a mandatory twenty years up to lifetime imprisonment, no more than five years supervised release, and a $2 million fine. If convicted on the money laundering charge, each faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine. Actual sentences are determined by a federal district court judge and are typically less than the maximum penalties.

Justin Campbell, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office also joined DEA Indianapolis ASAC Gannon and U.S. Attorney Myers in making the announcement. 

The DEA, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Brownsburg Police Department, the Clarksville Police Department, the Southern Indiana Drug Task Force (Jeffersonville Police Department, New Albany Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, and Floyd County Sheriff’s Office), and the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force investigated the case in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle P. Brady, who is prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Rota, who is handling asset forfeiture in this case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.