Feds Bust Drug Trafficking Ring Tied to Lummi Nation Overdose Deaths

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By Elyse Wild

October 04, 2024

Seventeen people were arrested across the country Wednesday on charges in a multi-state drug trafficking ring allegedly linked to a string of fatal overdoses on Lummi Nation last September.

The drug ring, known as the Jackson Drug Trafficking Organization, was led by Marquis Jackson, 31, and defendants Mandel Jackson, 50, and Matelita (Marty) Jackson, 49. Marty Jackson is a well-known anti-violence activist in the Seattle area and executive director of SE Network SafetyNet, a program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County.

According to an indictment, the group has ties to the Seattle street gang 44 Holy, a subset of the 30,000 + Crips gang.

Investigators seized 846,000 fentanyl pills, nearly 7 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 7 kilograms of cocaine, 29 firearms, and more than $116,000 in cash.

The arrests were made in Washington, Georgia, Missouri, Texas, and Arizona. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, a two-year investigation found that the trafficking ring supplied fentanyl to dealers in the Lummi Nation, which was overcome with grief last fall when four tribal citizens died of overdoses in four days.

The indictments paint a picture of close surveillance of drug trafficking in Lummi Nation. One defendant was seen by investigators in December 2023 during an alleged drug deal driving a vehicle registered to a Lummi Tribal member who was one of the overdose victims. Tribal and federal law enforcement partners examined the cell phone of one of the overdose victims, finding connections to the Jackson Drug Trafficking Organization.

Individuals arrested in connection with the Lummi Nation overdoses include Robert Bellair, 41, of Ferndale, Washington; Thomas J. Morris, 42, of Bellingham, Washington; Patrick James, 40, Bellingham, Washington; and Ronald Finkbonner, 50, Bellingham, Washington.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, DEA, the Lummi Police Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Seattle Police Department, King County Sheriff’s Office, Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and United States Border Patrol Blaine Sector Targeting and Intelligence Division.

This is a developing story. 

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