Five charged in North Baltimore drug trafficking bust, ATF says

The latest takedown on the 500 block of Sheridan Avenue is supposed to do more than produce another arrest sheet in North Baltimore: federal agents say it cut into a drug network that moved fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine through a corridor Baltimore police have watched for years.

Five men were charged in the case, and investigators say the operation reached beyond one block. On April 8, federal search warrants were executed at several addresses in the 500 block of Sheridan Avenue, another Baltimore City property and a Baltimore County residence. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the investigation started in August 2025 and ran through March 2026, with ATF Baltimore Group VI and the Baltimore Police Department’s Northern District District Action Team working together to identify members of the group and stash locations.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office identified the defendants as Omar Gilliam, 43; Derrell Washington Coates, 42; Kevin Harris, 34; Darren Farmer, 36; and Stephen Oliver, 38. Gilliam, Coates, Harris and Farmer are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances including heroin, fentanyl and cocaine base, while Oliver is charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Gilliam and Oliver also face firearm trafficking charges and charges for possessing firearms as prohibited persons because of prior felony convictions.

Authorities said the searches turned up numerous firearms and nearly 400 grams of suspected narcotics. Investigators also said they used controlled purchases, surveillance and crime-gun intelligence, documenting more than 15 controlled buys tied to some of the defendants, including transactions involving guns. Four of the five defendants were arrested on April 8, and the fifth was arrested later.

The case widened further when three other people were separately charged in Baltimore City with illegal firearms possession and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, bringing the total number of charged defendants to eight. Prosecutors said that shows the takedown was aimed at a broader distribution and weapons network, not just one corner.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the Sheridan Avenue block was already a problem when he worked there in 2008 and 2009, and he said some of the suspects had long arrest histories, including one person previously charged with murder. Baltimore Sun reporting said the alleged operation moved drugs from the Woodbourne-McCabe neighborhood, placing the bust inside a familiar North Baltimore geography of open-air dealing, repeat enforcement and the kind of street-level instability residents often see return unless the supply line is truly broken.