January 30, 2024 – A joint investigation by MNPD narcotics detectives, DEA agents and the TBI’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force led to Monday’s seizure of 12 pounds of pressed fentanyl pills (approximately 120,000) and 27 pounds of meth arriving in Nashville from California.
The investigation revealed that Nashvillian Derrick Johnson, 40, of Lischey Avenue, had flown to California and was driving back here with drugs in a rental SUV. The SUV was spotted on I-24 as it entered Tennessee from Kentucky. MNPD Interdiction Unit officers initiated a stop on the vehicle on I-24 in Davidson County near the Old Hickory Boulevard exit north of downtown.
The driver of the SUV, Antonio Johnson (Derrick’s brother), 44, of Southwind Drive, got out as instructed on the shoulder of the interstate. Derrick Johnson, the front seat passenger, then moved into the driver seat and took off at a high rate of speed. An MNPD helicopter, which was monitoring the traffic stop from the air, followed the SUV as two duffle bags were thrown from it in East Nashville. Derrick Johnson stopped briefly on McFerrin Avenue near Ellington Parkway and let a passenger, Ruth Bailey, 39, of Patricia Drive, out. She was taken into custody. Derrick Johnson continued driving to S. 8th Street where he bailed and ran into Cayce Homes. The helicopter directed ground units to him and he was arrested without incident.