OAN Staff Lillian Mann
9:20 AM – Thursday, June 18, 2026
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 14 suspects have been charged in connection with a cocaine trafficking operation that allegedly involved dealers openly selling drugs near a Washington, D.C., elementary school, often in broad daylight, according to the indictment.
According to the statement released on Wednesday, each of the 14 defendants were involved with distributing more than 280 grams of cocaine base and 500 grams of cocaine within 1,000 feet of Hendley Elementary School, in the Washington Highlands neighborhood.
While executing search warrants, officers seized 28 firearms, 2.4 kilograms of crack cocaine, one kilogram of powder cocaine, 29 grams of fentanyl and 12 pounds of marijuana as part of the operation, during which officers tracked about 165 different drug deals dating back to 2024.
Furthermore, the drugs were regularly sold in front of children walking to and from school, emphasizing that consistent exposure to illegal activity places children at risk for normalizing drug use, federal prosecutors said.
“Today my office took over a dozen drug traffickers off residential streets. These traffickers showed zero regard for the wellbeing of our community, even selling crack cocaine about 300 feet from an elementary school,” she continued. “This office will continue to pursue serious sentences for defendants who treat their neighbors as exploitable prey, and dismantle any group putting the lives in our community at risk.”
“This is poison that is being peddled during the day within feet of a schoolyard where our children learn, play, and grow,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told reporters. “Selling cocaine near our kids isn’t just illegal. It is an attack on the most vulnerable in our society. It endangers the children.”
“It destroys families, and it fuels the violence and the chaos in the district that we have suffered for far too long,” Pirro added.
In a photo released by the Justice Department, a woman is seen purchasing cocaine while accompanied by a 5-year-old girl. After the transaction, the woman is shown walking away while holding the child’s hand, according to Pirro.
“Now, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a crime,” Pirro said. “It’s one thing to have a prosecution of dirtbags who were selling drugs in the area of schools, 1,000 feet from a damn elementary school. It’s a whole other level of crime, as far as I’m concerned, for this woman to bring a child to a cocaine sale and then walk along with the child while she’s got the drugs on her.”
Authorities documented at least 165 drug transactions during the investigation, Pirro said. Nonetheless, she expressed confidence that the arrests would help curb crime and drug activity in affected Washington, D.C., neighborhoods, citing the scale of the operation.
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