Two D.C. residents indicted in Congress Heights fentanyl, crack cocaine ring

Two D.C. residents were arrested after being indicted on federal conspiracy charges involving fentanyl and crack cocaine distribution stemming from an alleged operation based at a Congress Heights apartment, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced.

Katie Shameka Williams, 33, and Kenneth Darnell Smith Jr., 32, both of the District of Columbia, were taken into custody in connection with the alleged drug-trafficking operation, prosecutors said. Both defendants are being held at the D.C. Correctional Facility and have made their first appearance before a magistrate judge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“These charges reflect this office’s aggressive commitment to dismantling violent drug networks, removing dangerous traffickers from our streets, and keeping our communities safe,” Pirro said. She said the takedown builds on more than 3,200 drug-related arrests made as part of President Trump’s federal surge to make Washington, D.C., “safe and beautiful.”

The indictment charges Williams and Smith with conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, as well as a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, or crack cocaine, prosecutors said.

According to filed court documents, the FBI Washington Field Office Safe Streets Task Force opened an investigation in March 2026 into an alleged narcotics distribution operation based on the 1600 block of Savannah Street SE.

Law enforcement allegedly documented at least nine instances of crack cocaine and fentanyl being distributed from that location over several months in 2026. Those instances involved more than 40 grams of fentanyl and distribution quantities of crack cocaine, according to the filings.

Law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at the apartment building on Aug. 18, 2026, and arrested Williams and Smith, prosecutors said. Three children were present in the apartment during the search, according to court documents.

Inside the residence, agents recovered numerous separately packaged quantities of suspected fentanyl in pill and powdered form, with an approximate gross weight of 322 grams, along with a rifle, three loaded handguns, a drum magazine, multiple additional firearm magazines, ammunition and $1,931 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, with additional assistance from the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section.

The prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established under Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.