CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A six-month joint operation with the FBI and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police led to a hotel raid in northeast Charlotte on Wednesday morning that resulted in multiple arrests, officials said.
Hundreds of FBI agents and officers with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on Wednesday, May 27, carried out search warrants at the Charlotte Garden Inn Suites hotel on Reagan Drive. Russ Ferguson, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, clarified Wednesday that the hotel is independent, and is not a Hilton Garden Inn hotel.
Indictments were issued for 11 people, with 10 of them arrested, officials said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Five people were facing federal charges, and six people were facing state-level charges, Ferguson said.
Charlotte police, FBI arrest 10 people, look to seize hotel following joint raid on May 27, 2026.(WBTV)
It wasn’t totally clear how many of those arrests happened during the hotel raid earlier that morning.
“The criminal activity though did not stop at the property lines the hotel operated as a distribution hub, it was also a trafficking location for illegal firearms and narcotics and it really supplied a lot of the drugs to our city,” Chief Estella Patterson said.
Officials: Hotel became ‘hotbed’ for drugs, guns
Ferguson also said Wednesday that a complaint was filed to seize the hotel, which had allegedly become a “hotbed” for illegal drugs and guns.
Between Jan. 1, 2024, and May 18, 2026 Charlotte-Mecklenburg police were called to the Garden Inn a total of 590 times. Officers reportedly made a total of 47 arrests, not including those made on Wednesday, according to investigators.
“The hotel itself serves almost like a farmers market for drugs and guns,” U.S. Attorney Ferguson said. “There are multiple rooms on multiple levels where people are buying drugs and guns. And those innocent people living there were duped.”
Ferguson said the innocent people living at the hotel were duped, because the hotel advertises and says they provide “24/7 security” on site. Several members of the security team hired at the hotel, including the head of security, were among those arrested during the raid, Ferguson said.
“The security team … are felons. They have extensive criminal records. Violent crimes, drug crimes, you name it,” Ferguson said. “They sell drugs. The security team is selling drugs there.”
Charlotte police, FBI arrest 10 people, look to seize hotel following joint raid on May 27, 2026.(WBTV)
Ferguson alleged that the owner of the hotel, Jessica Woodard, would not cooperate with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police when they asked to review security footage related to asked about a shooting that happened there.
Ferguson said that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police met with Woodard to share concerns about her security team at the hotel, but that she didn’t take action.
“They created the crime there instead of stopping it, and that’s why we filed our action today to seize the hotel,” Ferguson said. “And I hope this is a message to other hotel owners out there. That if you’re working with the side of the criminals instead of the side of the police, we are going to use our federal asset forfeiter power to take your hotel.”
You can watch the full press conference in the video player up above.
11 people indicted in joint operation
The hotel’s head of security, identified as Marcus Logan, 39, was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Logan reportedly had a record of convictions for assault, robbery, and narcotics violations.
“[Logan] was actually working as a uniformed security officer in the hotel while wearing an ankle monitor on release for a crime,” Ferguson said.
Four others were arrested and federally charged on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking and distribution, and possession of a firearm.
- Justin Day, 29, was charged with distribution of fentanyl, possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
- Michael Boatwright, 37, was charged with two counts of distribution of fentanyl and lived at the Garden Inn.
- Naquan Smith, 43, was not arrested at the Garden Inn and was arrested at a second location, though Ferguson did not say where. Smith was accused of supplying the drugs to the Garden Inn.
- A fifth person was federally indicted, but wasn’t arrested yet. Ferguson did not identify the person, but said authorities were looking for her and hoped to arrest her soon.
Six other people were arrested on state charges, Ferguson said. Eleven guns were reportedly seized in the operation.
“Today was about the Garden Inn, but this is not just about the Garden Inn. This is about more than one hotel,” Ferguson said. “This about that whole corridor of Sugar Creek and I-85 that we get a whole lot of complaints about. It’s basically an open air drug market.”
WBTV reached out to hotel owner Jessica Woodard on Wednesday morning. She said she did not know why law enforcement was at the hotel.
WBTV has since contacted her about federal seizure complaints, and she had not yet responded at the time of this writing.
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