A federal grand jury in Abingdon indicted nine individuals charging them with participating in a drug conspiracy that trafficked methamphetamine from North Carolina into Southwest Virginia.
All nine defendants have been arrested and are now in federal custody.
The indictment charges Marcos Adrian Martinez Rodriguez, Nestor Gutierrez-Gonzalez, Isaias Cisneros-Hernandez, Loeum Vinn Tok, Joan Mary Schugardt, Cody Allen Cashatt, Johnie Zeke Derose, April Renae Maness and Richard Wayne Greer.
All nine defendants are charged with one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Greer is also charged with one count of knowingly using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, from June to October 2021, the defendants operated a methamphetamine distribution ring in and around Lexington, N.C. During the life of the conspiracy, methamphetamine was transported into Southwest Virginia for distribution.
Joshua Kogod, of Smyth County, was convicted in 2022 for his role in the conspiracy.
The investigation remains ongoing.