The Dallas Police Department’s dedicated interdiction squad has led to another drug trafficker being sentenced to prison, and a nearly 200 pounds of dangerous drugs kept off the street. In October 2025, a narcotics detective and K9 partner Ballantine were doing routine inspections of luggage arriving at Dallas Love Field, when K9 Ballantine alerted his handler to the presence of drugs in six suitcases that had just arrived from Los Angeles, California, bound for Birmingham, Alabama. While those bags were pulled for further inspection, K9 Ballantine detected the presence of drugs in three suitcases from a different flight from Los Angeles that was also headed to Birmingham. In total, officers located approximately 180 pounds of methamphetamine between the nine suitcases and identified the five passengers who checked the bags on the two flights. Officers from DPD’s Love Field Unit located and arrested Curtis Steve, 35, Temarcus Jones, 37, Melanie James, 30, Arianna Booth, 23, and Jakoi Rice, 23, before they could depart on their flights to Birmingham. They were each charged with Manufacture / Delivery of Controlled Substance over 400 grams, a first-degree felony.
On August 18, 2026, Defendant Rice was convicted on his charge and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The remaining defendants’ cases are still pending trial. This investigation is documented under case number 147708-2025.