A Chattanooga man with a lengthy criminal record has been arrested again - this time on federal charges in connection with a load of deadly fentanyl from Mexico.
Alex Freeman Jr., 41, is charged with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
Authorities said in June, a confidential source advised that Freeman would soon receive a large shipment of pills containing fentany.
The large shipment would be going to 1313 Bradt St., via the U.S. Postal Service, it was stated.
The shipment was said to be for "Lil Vic," and that "Lil Vic" utilized a certain telephone number. Agents conducted an open-source search of that phone number and found a CashApp account in the name of Freeman with his photograph.
An agent said he knew Freeman from previous investigations. He is known by the nickname "Lil Vic."
On July 3, a USPIS Inspector located two USPS parcels in the USPS mail stream destined for 1313 Bradt St. A search and seizure warrant was issued for the two parcels.
They were found to contain approximately five kilograms of orange fentanyl pills. The pills were seized and submitted for analysis by a DEA forensic chemist.
On July 23, DEA received information from CS-1 that Freeman would receive an additional large shipment of pills containing fentanyl. Two Hispanic males were to make the delivery in a white GMC Acadia with Florida tags.
They were due to meet at 1701 North Concord Road, the Ledford at Hamilton Place apartment complex.
Law enforcement officers conducted surveillance of the area. At approximately 5:30 p.m., surveillance units observed a white GMC Acadia with Florida tags, occupied by two Hispanic males, pull into a parking lot at 1701 North Concord Road and park in a parking space.
At that time, the Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) drone unit deployed a surveillance drone over the parking lot and observed the white GMC Acadia move to several different parking spaces.
A short time later, Freeman approached and opened the tailgate of a blue Dodge Ram that was parked in front of the white GMC Acadia. Then, an Hispanic male, later identified as Hugo Cisneros-Arciniega, exited the driver's seat of the white GMC Acadia, retrieved a duffel bag from the cargo-area of the white GMC Acadia, and placed it into the bed of the Dodge Ram pickup.
Freeman and Cisneros-Arciniega shook hands, then Freeman fled on foot but was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit. During a search of Freeman, law enforcement located a small bag of orange pills, which appear similar to those I seized from the USPS parcel.
Cisneros-Arciniega and the passenger of the white GMC Acadia, Angel Cangas-Vargas, were also taken into custody.
Later, Cangas-Vargas stated he and Cisneros-Arciniega traveled from Mexico and made stops in multiple U.S. cities prior to Chattanooga.
Law enforcement located and seized approximately six kilograms of orange pills inside the duffel bag that Cisneros-Arciniega placed in the bed of the pickup. The pills appear similar to those seized from the USPS parcel and from Freeman.
Law enforcement located an additional bag in the back seat of the Dodge Ram was found to contain distribution quantities of cocaine and marijuana.
Law enforcement located a live tortoise in the front passenger seat floorboard of the white GMC Acadia
In 2015, Freeman was ordered to return to federal prison after picking up new charges of selling marijuana and possessing a gun.
Freeman, who was 31 at the time, was sentenced to 80 months by Judge Curtis Collier.
Prosecutor Chris Poole at the time said Freeman already had a lengthy criminal record, and he once fired into a crowd while saying he was protecting his brother. He said he had 10 adult convictions.
He said Freeman "is very smart and he could do something positive with his life, but he keeps coming back to drugs and guns."