Six indicted after Homeland Security Task Force investigation

Date: Aug. 31, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Kansas City, MO – Six individuals have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.

Brandon A. McAfee of Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Arthelle McClain, Joe F. Fuller, Jr., Shelia M. M. Gordon, Anthony S. S. Conaway, and Marshall D. Jackson of Kansas City, Mo., were charged in a 16-count indictment that was returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. on Aug. 25, 2026. That indictment was unsealed and made public last week with arrests and initial court appearances for five of the defendants.

The federal indictment alleges the defendants conspired with one another to distribute fentanyl and cocaine between November 2025 and August 2026.

Jackson is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Investigators recovered approximately 3,533 grams of cocaine, 1,555 grams of fentanyl, 1,049 grams of carfentanil and fentanyl, 237 grams of unknown pills, 555 grams of MDMB-4EN-Pinica, 55 grams of diphenidine, 364 grams of marijuana, 198 grams of tetrahydrocannabinol, and phencyclidine during last week’s arrest operation. Additionally, investigators recovered nine total firearms, one of which had an obliterated serial number, another was stolen, and one was equipped with a machinegun conversion device, also known as a “switch.”

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, the Saint Joseph Police Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Kansas City comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.