Major Multi-State Drug Trafficking Bust Leads to Numerous Arrests in Lowndes County
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. – A year-long federal, state, and local investigation has led to the takedown of a major drug trafficking operation based in Lowndes County and stretching across multiple states.
Authorities say the investigation, launched in early 2024 by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office STING Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN), and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), targeted Larry Jones Jr., accused of producing thousands of methamphetamine-laced pills each week in Columbus, Mississippi.
Agents allege Jones and his co-conspirators distributed the pills throughout Mississippi — including Columbus, Meridian, Jackson, Moss Point, and Greenwood — as well as Memphis, Tennessee, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. On March 27, 2025, investigators executed a search warrant in Columbus, seizing an industrial-scale pill press capable of producing hundreds of thousands of tablets. Jones and co-defendant Allan Jones were arrested, and federal indictments were issued against 14 others for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
A coordinated arrest operation this week led to multiple suspects being taken into custody by the Lowndes County Narcotics Unit, DEA, MBN, and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Those arrested include:
- Mary Lee Jones, 43, Columbus, MS
- Gregory Wells, 54, Columbus, MS
- Leroy Malone, 52, Columbus, MS
- Wy’lerra Staples, 25, Columbus, MS
- Jakavion Griffin, 25, Meridian, MS
- Marlon Warner, 49, Jackson, MS
- Vincent Bailey, 47, West Point, MS
- Varick Davis, 53, Moss Point, MS
- Andre Farmer, 46, in custody at LCADC
- Alex Hill, 37, in custody at Clay County Jail
All defendants are being held at the Lafayette County Detention Center pending their initial federal court appearances in Oxford.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins called the case “one of the most significant drug operations in Lowndes County,” emphasizing his office’s commitment to dismantling networks that “harm our community.”
The investigation remains ongoing, with more arrests and indictments expected. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
