A Missouri man with connections to at least three fentanyl overdose deaths in Belton, Mo., has been charged in federal court with possessing fentanyl to distribute and illegally possessing firearms after law enforcement officers found 17 firearms along with a large amount of cash and illegal drugs in his apartment.
Tiger Dean Draggoo, 22, of Kansas City, was charged in a three-count criminal complaint that was filed under seal in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, Jan. 20. That complaint was unsealed and made public following Draggoo’s arrest and initial court appearance. Draggoo remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing that has not yet been scheduled.
The federal criminal complaint charges Draggoo with one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing firearms, including machine guns, in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of illegally possessing machine guns.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, three Belton, Mo., teenagers who were associated with Draggoo died from acute fentanyl intoxication between Jan. 14 and Sept. 13, 2022. On at least three more occasions during that time, Belton police officers were called because a juvenile was under the influence of fentanyl (one of those juveniles, who turned 18 after being contacted by police officers, is among the three fentanyl deaths).
Law enforcement officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on July 21, 2022, of the Dodge Charger that Draggoo was driving near the south Kansas City apartment complex where Draggoo lived with his girlfriend. Draggoo refused to stop, according to the affidavit, and fled from the officers.
Officers were conducting surveillance at the apartment complex on Sept. 22, 2022, when Draggoo and another person left the apartment and got into a Jeep Renegade. Officers followed the Jeep and saw it commit numerous traffic violations while displaying erratic driving. A Jackson County sheriff’s deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle fled from the deputy.
A few minutes later, the Jeep returned to the apartment complex and Draggoo and the other person entered the apartment. Draggoo carried a large laundry bag from the apartment and placed it in the backseat of the Jeep. When a Jackson County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy drove into the parking lot, Draggoo ran back into the apartment building. When officers knocked on the door of Draggoo’s apartment, the affidavit says, his girlfriend initially told them he wasn’t there. After she allowed officers to enter the apartment, she admitted that Draggoo had run into the apartment and out the back door.
Officers searched the apartment and found 17 firearms, including two machine guns, ammunition of various calibers, $246,769 in cash, a ballistic vest with plates, a money counter, numerous pills that contained fentanyl, eight suspected LSD tabs, and marijuana. The 17 firearms included a Del-Ton 5.56-caliber rifle (converted into a machine gun), a Glock switch (used to convert a Glock pistol into a machine gun), three Marlin .22-caliber rifles, a Norinco 7.62-caliber rifle, a Mosin-Nagant rifle, an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, an Armscorp USA .308-caliber rifle, a Century Arms 7.62-caliber rifle, a Herbert Schmidt .22-caliber revolver, a New England Firearms .22-caliber revolver, a Kimber 9mm pistol, a Glock 9mm pistol, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, and a Metro Arms .45-caliber pistol.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh. It was investigated by the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Jackson County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Cass County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Belton, Mo., Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
