Two McMinnville residents are among nine people arrested from a 16-month meth sting that included agents with the TBI and Homeland Security.

“This gets some major drug dealers off the street,” said DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray, whose department launched the investigation.

McMinnville residents Paige L. Simmons, 31, and Phillip J. Potter, 30, are both charged with two counts of selling more than 300 grams of meth. They have been booked at Warren County Jail and are under $200,000 bond.

DeKalb County authorities initially began the investigation to combat a major drug trafficking ring centered in Smithville. The TBI dubbed the undercover investigation Operation Ice Pick.

The operation began in February 2021 when DeKalb County officials used an undercover agent to buy meth from Sparta resident Charles Edward White Jr., 48. He’s charged with two counts of selling more than 300 grams of meth and 25 counts of delivery of meth.

According to DeKalb County detective Mason Merriman, the investigation slowly evolved through controlled buys and surveillance.

“In February 2021, we began an investigation into Charles Edward White Jr., and were able to utilize confidential sources to purchase 3.5 grams, or an 8-ball, of methamphetamine from him,” said Merriman. “From that point on we began hearing his name more and more, and we contacted the TBI and started purchasing larger amounts just to see exactly how big a dealer he was.”

“Over time, we were able to utilize an undercover TBI agent to make the purchases. Through countless hours of surveillance, we were able to get a T-3 wire intercept to tap into his phones, and through that we were able to learn the names of other people involved in the conspiracy,” Merriman continued.

“By the end of October 2021, White and his partner, Shawn David Troglen, traveled to Alabama to meet their source, Robert H. Murdock, and picked up 13 pounds of meth, along with a couple of pounds of marijuana.”

Sheriff Ray said Chief Deputy Brian Williams and the TBI took the suspects down at a gas station in Pulaski on their return trip. Officials say that White and Troglen had made the trip to Killen, Alabama in a Ford F-350 with a motorcycle in the back, but on the return trip White was riding the motorcycle with Troglen following.

Fearing they would be unable to stop the motorcycle from fleeing, it was decided to make the arrests when the two stopped at a gas station. They had been under surveillance all along their trip with a plane in the air. Roughly $10,000 in cash, guns, the truck and motorcycle, along with the drugs were seized.

The Alabama DEA was also involved in the bust. A search warrant was executed at Murdock’s home in Killen, Alabama, where another two pounds of meth, marijuana and several thousands of dollars in cash were found.

Later that evening, a search warrant was executed at White’s home on Johnson’s Chapel Road in Sparta where an additional 10 ounces of meth was discovered. Eight vehicles, including wreckers and rollbacks, 4-wheelers, a tire changer, and two Jet Skis, were seized at White’s home that officials say were traded for drugs. That property has already been awarded to the Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities say Troglen had another source for drugs in Knoxville who was also arrested by the DEA. Troglen would order five to seven kilos of meth, which is 2.2 pounds each.

From Sept. 15 to Oct. 29, roughly a one-month span, around 43 pounds of meth were trafficked through DeKalb County with $325,000 of total revenue.

Customers were traveling from Warren, Van Buren, White, Putnam, and DeKalb counties, with some traveling as far away as Kentucky to pick up drugs. Four states were involved with connections in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia.

On June 8, the DeKalb County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging multiple individuals on various drug-related charges. Over the past two days, those individuals have been arrested and booked into area jails.

Others involved include:

• Tiffany Ford, 34, of Sparta

• Tara R. Treadway, 32, of Smithville

• Amy L. Hall, 43, of Smithville

• Eva L. Dover, 52, of Smithville