Indictment alleges group ran drug operation in Akron, Portage, Trumbull counties
Eight individuals have been charged in federal court with taking part in a drug trafficking operation that distributed methamphetamine and other drugs in the city of Akron, and around Portage and Trumbull counties, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland.
One of the suspects in the case said he picked up a half pound of meth from his source in Akron to sell in Trumbull County every two to three days, according to an affidavit filed with the court.
Portage case:Seizure of about 50 pounds of pot, more than $140,000 in cash in Portage believed to be record
An indictment unsealed Thursday in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Ohio lists a Kinsman man, three Akron residents and four Warren residents as being part of the group.
Each defendant is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In addition, the indictment charges various members of the drug trafficking organization with distribution of methamphetamine, distribution of LSD, possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition and possession of a firearm by a person with a prior misdemeanor domestic violence conviction.
According to the indictment, the suspects allegedly purchased and redistributed the drugs from October 2021 to April 2022. Members of "the organization," as the group is referred to by the U.S. Attorney, distributed methamphetamine from an Akron woman's residence.
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Though not all customers were named, the indictment states drugs went from the Akron woman to others, who then distributed the drugs to others in the group and other customers. One of the suspects served as a driver for the Kinsman man.
Members of the organization also allegedly conducted counter-surveillance to identify the potential presence of law enforcement, police said.
The first arrest listed in court records took place during a Nov. 15, 2021, traffic stop in Windham Township, where a Portage County Sheriff's Deputy stopped a vehicle in which one of the suspects had been a passenger. According to an affidavit filed by an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the man admitted he had drugs in the vehicle and the deputy found just over a half pound of methamphetamine, along with a plastic bag of psilocybin mushrooms, suspected cocaine, an unused hypodermic needle, a digital scale and more than $500 in currency.
In another affidavit, another Portage County Sheriff's Deputy pulled over a pickup truck Jan. 2, for a traffic violation on Interstate 76. The truck, in which two of the suspects were passengers, was hauling one of the two suspect's Nissan Sentra on a trailer with a fictitious registration. The the deputy found about a half pound of methamphetamine inside a bookbag in the Sentra. The Sentra was being towed because it had broken down at a Ravenna gas station.
According to the affidavit, one of the two later admitted he had been picking up about $2,000 worth of methamphetamine from an Akron-based drug source every two to three days for sale in Trumbull County.
Additionally, the indictment alleges members of the organization used motels and a residence within Trumbull County to store and sell methamphetamine.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, including its Drug and Violent Crime Unit, the Akron Police Department and its Gun Violence Reduction Tactical Unit, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Niles Police Department and the Warren Police Department.
Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Group allegedly ran drug operation in Akron, Portage, Trumbull
