A staggering drug bust has put a Detroit gas station owner in the hot seat after Livonia police, in collaboration with federal authorities, seized over 90 pounds of the lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl, various other narcotics, and a cache of cash and weapons. Information obtained by FOX 2 Detroit details the origins of the case, tracing back to a traffic stop conducted by a Livonia officer last September which uncovered narcotics in the driver's vehicle, further prompting an investigation that cornered Barry Willis, known on the streets as "Blue," as the alleged key supplier.
The delve into Willis's illicit activities intensified after a warrant-based search on March 28 both at his home on Dorchester Court in Clinton Township and at a suspected stash house on Littlefield in Detroit, where authorities unearthed significant amounts of narcotics including fentanyl – a drug so potent that the quantity found could vanquish over 20 million lives, add on to that there were 6 pounds of cocaine, a pill press, drug paraphernalia, and over $18,000 in cash was also seized during the search. Local outlet WXYZ reported the seizure also included 41 kilos of fentanyl, approximately 100,000 pills laced with the deadly drug, and various weapons.
The array of contraband confiscated painted a stark picture of the scale of Willis's operation, with more than $150,000 in suspected drug profits and multiple guns being taken by authorities. WWJ Newsradio added that Willis's Citgo gas station and car wash, the façade for his criminal enterprise on Livernois near Oakman, was also raided, resulting in the recovery of another handgun and over $3,000.
Willis now faces charges linked to the distribution and intent to distribute controlled substances, as police continue to unfurl the magnitude of his operation, a revelation that arises amid a national crisis of opioid-related overdoses, which claimed countless lives across the country. Livonia Police Captain Greg Yon described the culmination of the extensive probe, telling WXYZ that after months of investigation surmounting multiple raids, their effort yielded an astounding volume of perilous drugs off the streets; Willis is set for a detention hearing on Thursday where he will answer to the charges laid against him.
