7 face federal charges of selling drugs in West Tennessee


              FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows pills of the painkiller hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, that the agency will issue new warnings about the potentially fatal consequences of mixing prescription painkillers and popular sedatives like Valium and Xanax, including coma and death. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows pills of the painkiller hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, that the agency will issue new warnings about the potentially fatal consequences of mixing prescription painkillers and popular sedatives like Valium and Xanax, including coma and death. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say seven people from Jackson have been charged with shipping large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and Xanax across West Tennessee.

The U.S. attorney's office says a 16-count indictment against seven members of a drug trafficking organization includes charges of conspiracy to distribute ice, which is meth with a purity level higher than 80 percent.

Prosecutors say four defendants have been arrested, and two were already jailed on unrelated charges. One defendant has not been arrested.

The indictment released Monday says the group helped each other sell drugs between August 2015 and May 2016. During the investigation, authorities seized more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana, more than 8 ounces of ice, more than 7 ounces of cocaine, nearly 1 ounce of heroin, and 1,000 Xanax pills.

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