Indiana Task Force Arrests 12 in Election Day Cocaine Raid

A months-long investigation into a Fort Wayne cocaine trafficking network ended in a coordinated sweep that resulted in 12 arrests and the seizure of nearly 40 pounds of cocaine. The operation, designated Operation Iron Scale, concluded with simultaneous raids across northeast Indiana on Election Day.

State and local officials confirmed the details of the raid on Thursday. The investigation targeted a specific distribution network led by Jermaine Norris, a Noblesville resident identified in probable cause documents as a large-scale trafficker. Investigators established his role after an undercover informant purchased more than 1.5 pounds of cocaine directly from him. Following that transaction, detectives obtained wiretaps on Norris's phone, intercepting calls with suppliers and buyers who frequently used coded language to disguise their transactions.

The operation involved tactical teams from the Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Sheriff’s Department, and federal agencies including the ATF, DEA, and FBI. Officers executed nearly 20 search warrants in Fort Wayne, Huntertown, and Noblesville. The total haul included more than $240,000 in cash, 26 firearms, suspected fentanyl, suspected methamphetamine, over 25 prescription Oxycodone pills, 17 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and nearly 1,000 grams of marijuana.

Violence erupted at two of the locations during the Tuesday morning raids. On Elmdale Drive, 62-year-old Barry Lynn Martin opened fire on officers serving a warrant. Police returned fire, killing Martin. The officers involved were placed on standard five-day administrative leave. In Huntertown, agents surrounded a home in the 4600 block of Hammock Drive where Norris had barricaded himself inside. He sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The sheriff’s department confirmed Thursday that Norris survived and is in stable condition at a local hospital. Formal charges against Norris have not yet appeared on public court dockets.

Specific seizures highlighted the extent of the operation's reach. At 2604 Poinsette Drive, Allen County SWAT deployed a drone into a home after 43-year-old Newell Cooper refused to exit. The drone recorded Cooper attempting to destroy powder cocaine in a bathroom. Officers seized a loaded 9mm handgun and 4.9 grams of cocaine. Cooper, who was on federal supervised release with prior convictions for vehicular hijacking and armed robbery, was among the arrested.

At 3115 S. Anthony Blvd, officers arrested 64-year-old Odean Macon. Inside the residence, police found 4.4 grams of fentanyl hidden in a headboard, 3.5 grams of cocaine under a kitchen cup, and 12 Oxycodone pills. City officials subsequently condemned the property. Investigators also identified 51-year-old Samuel Calmes of Noblesville as Norris’s wholesale supplier. Police intercepted approximately three kilograms of cocaine from a vehicle leaving Calmes’s residence on October 6.

The 12 individuals arrested on felony conspiracy and narcotics dealing charges include Willie Arrington, 59; Simone Bryant, 69; Odean Macon, 64; Newell Cooper, 43; Marque Weeks, 51; Henry L. Bryant, 66; Dujuane Woods, 36; Darreise McCarter, 37; Aritha Harvey, 61; Elliot Diaz, 51; Sanders Davis, 59; and Samuel Calmes, 51.