Operation Iron Scale Seizes Nearly 40 Pounds of Cocaine

Residents of Fort Wayne and surrounding areas faced a major crackdown on drug trafficking this week. State and local officials confirmed on Thursday that authorities executed nearly 20 search warrants across the region on Tuesday. The coordinated effort, designated Operation Iron Scale, resulted in the arrest of 12 individuals and the seizure of substantial cash and contraband.

The financial and physical totals from the operation include more than $240,000 in cash and nearly 18,000 grams of cocaine. That amount of cocaine weighs approximately 39.7 pounds. Investigators also secured 26 firearms, along with suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances. The haul included over 25 prescription Oxycodone pills, 17 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and nearly 1,000 grams of marijuana.

The operation was the culmination of a months-long investigation into a cocaine trafficking network. Tactical teams from the Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Police Department, and Allen County Sheriff’s Department worked alongside federal agents from the ATF, DEA, and FBI. The raids targeted locations in Fort Wayne, Huntertown, and Noblesville. All twelve arrested individuals face felony conspiracy and narcotics dealing charges.

Two of the Tuesday morning encounters turned violent. On Elmdale Drive in Fort Wayne, officers served a warrant at the home of 62-year-old Barry Lynn Martin. Police reported that Martin opened fire on the officers, who returned fire, killing him. The officers involved were placed on a standard five-day administrative leave following the incident. In Huntertown, agents surrounded a home on Hammock Drive where Jermaine Norris barricaded himself inside. Norris suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and is in stable condition at a local hospital. The sheriff’s department confirmed his identity on Thursday, though formal charges had not yet appeared on public dockets.

Probable cause documents identify Norris as a known large-scale cocaine trafficker in Fort Wayne. An undercover confidential informant purchased more than 1.5 pounds of cocaine directly from him. Investigators subsequently obtained wiretaps on his phone, intercepting calls with suppliers and buyers. Detectives noted that the suspects used coded language to mask their transactions. The affidavits also detail specific raids, including one on Poinsette Drive where a drone recorded 43-year-old Newell Cooper attempting to destroy powder cocaine. Cooper was on federal supervised release for prior convictions involving vehicular hijacking and armed robbery.

Other seizures included 4.4 grams of fentanyl hidden in a headboard at a home on South Anthony Boulevard, which was later condemned by city officials. Officers also found cocaine tucked under a kitchen cup and 12 Oxycodone pills in the same residence. In Noblesville, investigators identified 51-year-old Samuel Calmes as Norris’s wholesale supplier. On October 6, police intercepted approximately three kilograms of cocaine from a vehicle leaving Calmes’s residence. Calmes was among the twelve arrested in the Tuesday sweep.

The arrested individuals 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. All but Calmes are residents of Fort Wayne. The next step in the process involves the filing of formal charges and the processing of the seized evidence in local court.

The operation represents a concentrated effort to disrupt the flow of narcotics in the Fort Wayne metro area. The seizure of nearly 40 pounds of cocaine and over a quarter-million dollars in cash removes a significant amount of resources from the local market. The 26 firearms recovered during the raids were logged by state police as part of the total contraband inventory.