Post by Scumhunter on Nov 2, 2015 10:37:46 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)
Fugitive Profile as of November 2nd, 2015: (based on 2006 AMW archives, please contact site if you have more recent information)
Full Name: Duwayne Orilgel Jones
Aliases: Duwayne Penny Brown, Ricky Powell, Penny
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Age Now: 43-45
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 240
Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Black
Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown
Last Seen: Phoenix, AZ
Other Possible Locations: Brooklyn, NY. Queens, NY
TIPS: Based on wanted description, our advice for anyone with any information on Jones whereabouts would be to contact the DEA: www.dea.gov/ops/submit.php
The Party Goes Flat With Champagne Crew's Shakedown.
The DEA says the Champagne Crew was a notorious and violent Jamaican drug syndicate formed in the early 1990's. The organization shipped hundreds of pounds of marijuana on a weekly basis from Arizona to New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The Champagne Crew earned their nickname from lavish parties where money and the bubbly flowed in abundance. Most members were Jamaican nationals who were definitely not shy about letting people know who they were -- wearing custom- made suits worth several thousand dollars and flashing fistfuls of hundred dollar bills. The Crew even had their parties filmed and would distribute edited DVD's of the parties. The flash and cash apparently inflated their image and business quickly boomed.
The DEA says the Crew became so successful that they could no longer rely on overnight shipping and needed larger means of transporting cargo. In 1997, the syndicate started using brand new big-rig trucks and trailers to ship tons and tons of marijuana and other drugs across the US on a bi-weekly basis. After several unsolved murders and seizures of trucks in different states through the 90's, the DEA finally put it all together and were able to identify the main leaders of the Crew and their overall operation.
In 2000, the top five leaders in the organization were arrested. The resulting power vacuum caused splinter cells to emerge with new leaders fighting for the turf and control of the drug sales. The DEA says one of those wanna-be kingpins is Duwayne Jones.
One Time Flunky Tries To Take Over Business.
After the arrest of the Crew's leaders, Jones allegedly used some of the old Mexican drug connections to set up deals of hundreds and thousands of pounds of marijuana for himself. In one instance, Jones planned a buy at the apartment he rented in Tempe, Arizona. But Jones didn't have the capital to pay the Mexican dealers, so the DEA says that Jones orchestrated the planned murders of drug dealers. They say several of Jones' associates met with the Mexican connection at the apartment to make an exchange of money for drugs. But the only thing exchanged was a hail of bullets that left the three Mexican dealers executed in the apartment while Jones and his men made off with the dope.
More Bodies Under Jones' Reign.
In another deal gone bad, Jones drove to an apartment building with fellow Crew member Norman Allen. The DEA says that Jones again had no cash or way to finalize the deal. The result was the murder of Allen. Authorities had Jones in their hands when officials seized $20,000 cash from him at the Arizona's Sky Harbor Airport. Officials confiscated the money because Jones was acting suspicious and gave no credible reason for carrying so much cash. Unfortunately they had no reason to detain Jones and had to release him, because he was not yet implicated in the murders or tied to the Crew. It was only recently, as members have copped pleas by turning state's witness, that the DEA has linked Jones to the murders and various other charges. The DEA believes there are many other crimes, old and new, that can be attributed to Jones and the Champagne Crew but say there is not enough evidence yet to link them definitively.
Thoughts? The above is from the old AMW archives, where Jones was listed as a web-exclusive case. As far as I know, Jones is still at large as of this posting date (11/2/2015). However, please e-mail us if you have proof otherwise.
web.archive.org/web/20060207165318/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=29452
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form