COLUMBUS – Police have jailed five people and Columbus city officials have shuttered two houses after a series of drug raids and court actions this week.
On Tuesday, Columbus Police narcotics detectives executed search warrants at three Northeast Side homes and during two traffic stops and arrested four men they say were part of a drug trafficking ring, division spokeswoman Sgt. Chantay Boxill said.
Detectives seized 3.25 kilograms of cocaine and approximately $40,000 cash (pictured above), the culmination of a long term narcotics investigation, Boxill said.
Search warrants were executed at 4317 Clock Court, 4521 Collier Drive and 3098 McCutcheon Crossing Drive and four men were arrested: Erasto Peres (pictured top left), who also goes by the alias Ruben Gomez-Ramirez and is believed to be the leader of the ring, and Sergio Orozco-Delgadillo (top right), Mario Santana (bottom left), Luis Torres (bottom right).
All are facing felony narcotics charges.
Whitehall police and the Columbus INTAC Unit raided a home at 6660 Christopher Park Lane, in southeastern Franklin County, Thursday, arresting Justin Young, 27, of Canal Winchester, and seizing drugs and weapons, according to a posting on the Whitehall Division of Police Twitter feed.
Detectives confiscated marijuana, fentanyl, oxycontin, 14 firearms and $2,922 in cash, the message said.
Young was in the Franklin County Jail, charged with drug possession.
Press Release: Whitehall Police with the assistance of @ColumbusPolice relocate another drug dealer to the @OHFCSO jail pic.twitter.com/69YXLeW3vR
— Whitehall Police (@WhitehallPD) May 31, 2019
The office of Columbus City attorney Zach Klein announced Thursday that it had shut down two homes where Klein says police had been called dozens of times for incidents involving narcotics trafficking, prostitution complaints, multiple drug overdoses, burglary, shots fired and other crimes.
That brings the total number of properties shut down for criminal activity this year to 11, Klein said.
The owner of one of the properties overdosed on heroin three out of the nine times officers and paramedics were called to the premises to try to revive unresponsive victims.
According to court documents, Columbus Police responded to this property at 1717 Union Avenue, on the West Side, at least 28 times in the last year and a half for complaints that included domestic violence and shots fired. That includes six times in 2018, including incidents where narcotics detectives seized heroin, methamphetamine, cash, digital scales, and ammunition. One of the tenants was arrested for drug trafficking.
After a series of other incidents at the premises, including a robbery and a suspicious fire, detectives in February arrested a suspect in possession of black tar heroin and, a month later, seized additional drugs and a weapon in March, Klein said.
Police and fire personnel have responded to six overdose reports at a home at 936 Elizabeth Avenue, in the Eastmoor neighborhood, since October. Drugs, a handgun and ammunition were confiscated in March, Klein said.
The Franklin County Environmental Court granted motions to board up the properties pending a June 10 hearing on a request for permanent actions, Klein said.