A superseding indictment was unsealed today in the District of Minnesota charging 14 additional members and associates of the Minneapolis Highs gang with racketeering (RICO) conspiracy and fentanyl trafficking.
Additional charges include firearms violations, kidnapping, assault, and carjacking.
In addition to the previously charged conduct involving a years-long pattern of violence, the superseding indictment alleges an extensive fentanyl trafficking operation involving Arizona-based suppliers.
Between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2023, Highs members are alleged to have made numerous round-trip flights from Minneapolis to Phoenix, at times carrying large sums of U.
S.
currency, to obtain fentanyl pills for re-sale in Minneapolis.
During the same time period, Highs members shipped numerous U.
S.
Postal Service parcels containing fentanyl pills to Minneapolis from Arizona.
The superseding indictment alleges numerous instances of fentanyl possession and distribution in and around Highs territory in Minneapolis.
Through the course of the investigation, law enforcement has seized approximately 11.
6 kilograms of fentanyl, at least 36 firearms, and over $218,000 in U.
S.
currency.
If convicted, the defendants face a range of penalties, including up to life in prison for racketeering conspiracy.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M.
Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.
S.
Attorney Andrew Luger for the District of Minnesota, Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley Engelbert of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Special Agent in Charge Alvin M.
Winston Sr.
of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office, Chief Brian O’Hara of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Kuszynski of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chicago, Inspector in Charge Bryan S.
Musgrove of the U.
S.
Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Denver Division, Chief Deputy Tracey Martin of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Superintendent Drew Evans of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), and Assistant Commissioner Eddie Miles of the Minnesota Department of Corrections made the announcement.
The ATF, FBI, MPD, IRS-CI, USPIS, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota BCA, and Minnesota Department of Corrections are investigating the cases, with assistance from the U.
S.
Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, St.
Paul Police Department, and numerous other law enforcement agencies also contributed to the investigation.
Trial Attorney Brian W.
Lynch of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.
S.
Attorneys Samantha H.
Bates, Justin A.
Wesley, Albania Concepcion, and Jordan L.
Sing for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the cases.
An indictment is merely an allegation.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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