The mayor of the small Louisiana city of Bogalusa has been arrested along with six other individuals after a months-long investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating in the area, according to local police
Tyrin Truong, 25, who was elected as Bogalusa mayor in 2022, was charged with engaging in transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses and solicitation of prostitutes, according to a Louisiana State Police statement.
The mayor was also accused of using someone else’s movable property without their consent. He was booked into the Washington Parish jail alongside the six other suspects but was later released on bond.
“We have zero tolerance for wrong doing [sic], especially, from public officials,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a Jan. 7 statement.
Truong became the youngest mayor in Louisiana when he defeated incumbent Wendy O’Quin Perrette, who had served Bogalusa since 2014, at just 23 years old.
The Epoch Times has reached out to his office for comment but did not hear back as of publication time.
The other suspects—MacKenzie Lynn Cefalu, 24; De-Saleem Wali Pittman, 24; Dirul S. Pittman, 22; Salehal-Dien Malike Pittman, 26; Tonya Renee Stage, 51; and Devan Michael Williams, 28—were charged with engaging in transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses.
Three of them were charged with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance, and one was also charged with distributing a Schedule II controlled substance. It could not be established whether they had been assigned attorneys.
Police said that search and arrest warrants were issued for the individuals as a result of evidence gathered during the investigation into the drug-trafficking organization, which began in April 2024.
The organization was linked to the distribution of opioids, high-grade marijuana, THC products, and MDMA—which is commonly known as ecstasy—according to police.
Police said the organization used social media platforms to distribute drugs and manage payments, with proceeds from the drug sales being used to purchase firearms. Some of the firearms were allegedly funneled to individuals prohibited from possessing guns, and several of them were linked to violent crimes in the Bogalusa area. The investigation is ongoing.
Louisiana State Police said that “a variety of other matters and individuals” remain under investigation in connection with “matters both separate from and related to” the arrests.
“We are going to continue to invest time and resources into helping the citizens of Bogalusa. We are not finished,” District Attorney Collin Sims said in a statement.
The investigation was launched in collaboration with the 22nd Judicial District Court District Attorney’s Office, Murrill’s office, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the state reported 2,456 drug-involved deaths in 2023. Of those, 1,130 deaths were linked to opioid use.
From The Epoch Times