DeWine said drug busts involved nearly 400 officers in 36 counties

August 27, 2015 at 12:03a.m.

ohio

COLUMBUS

Coordinated drug busts across the state in the weeks before schools started this month resulted in more than 400 arrests and the seizure of millions of dollars in cash and illegal narcotics, according to a report released by Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine Wednesday.

The overall effort was dubbed Operation OTFCA, the acronym standing for the Ohio Task Force Commanders’ Association, which helps to coordinate efforts among drug task forces across the state.

“Our drug problems aren’t about one person, one task force or one community,” Jeff Orr, a detective in the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office and president of the group, said during a morning news conference in Columbus. “They are about all of us, together, uniting to make a change.”

DeWine said the first effort of its kind involved nearly 400 officers executing 108 search warrants in 36 counties, with 409 people arrested and facing more than 900 criminal charges, most of them drug related.

Of the latter, 224 were related to heroin, 140 to cocaine, 110 to prescription drugs, 82 to marijuana and 51 to meth. Total drugs seized included 3,921 grams of heroin, 4,448 grams of meth and 4,500-plus grams of cocaine and crack.

Additionally, investigators collected 6,007 prescription pills, 45 vials of steroids, 288 pounds of marijuana and 3,124 marijuana plants.

Orr said more than 100 pounds of marijuana, from California and marked for medicinal use, was confiscated in one raid in Lake County, along with $600,000 cash, cars and firearms.

Investigators also seized $1.3 million in cash and found what appeared to be human bones in a fire pit at an Ashtabula County home.

DeWine said the work of the task force is playing a significant role in keeping pressure on dealers and removing illegal drugs from the state.

“This is the worst drug epidemic I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been involved in law enforcement since the early ‘70s,” he said. “Heroin and other opiates are ripping apart thousands of families every year in this state. They have a huge economic impact, because there are so many people today who can’t get a job, certainly [can’t] get any kind of permanent job, because they can’t pass a drug test. So we see the horror and the tragedy connected with families.”