FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency Team With Sabine Parish Authorities to Bust Methamphetamine Trafficker Working Near Louisiana-Texas Border

SHREVEPORT, La. (KPEL News) - A Many man will be spending quite a bit of time in prison after a joint investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and officers with the Sabine Parish Tactical Narcotics Team helped take the drug trafficker off the streets.

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36-year-old John Michael Murphy found out his fate this week following the investigation and prosecution of his crimes. According to a press release from the US Attorney's Office in Shreveport, it was a Sabine Parish Sheriff's Office deputy whose keen eye led to his capture in November of 2021 in Many, which is located in Sabine Parish near the Louisiana-Texas border.

Officers with the Sabine Parish Tactical Narcotics Team had already conducted an undercover buy of 60 grams of meth from Murphy before that November night when he was finally put behind bars. When agents got the information that Murphy would be traveling to get more meth, they began staking him out on November 16th. Agents lost the drug trafficker, though, and needed help tracking him.

That's when the Sabine Parish Sheriff's deputy noticed the vehicle traveling on Louisiana Highway 6 and recognized the female who was driving Murphy as he had an expired license. When the deputy turned on his lights the driver stopped and gave him consent to search the vehicle. It was during a pat down search of Murphy that deputies found a large bag between his legs containing meth.

On June 15, 2022, Murphy was charged in an indictment for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

On April 15, 2023, Murphy pleaded guilty to possessing a total of 158.35 grams of methamphetamine.

The case was investigated by the FBI, DEA, Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Sabine
Parish Tactical Narcotics Team and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary J. Mudrick.

United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. sentenced Murphy to 151 months (12 years, 7 months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release.

The investigation and conviction of Murphy is part of an Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and
dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.