Thread: Ohio bust nets 2,800 pounds marijuana and $1 million cash

Ohio bust nets 2,800 pounds marijuana and $1 million cash

– Sat Jan 29, 3:51 pm ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Authorities in Columbus, Ohio, seized about 2,800 pounds of marijuana from Mexico with a street value of $3.5 million, as well as almost $1 million in cash in two raids, police said on Saturday.

The marijuana was seized after a six-month investigation and was to be distributed throughout central Ohio, said Columbus Police spokesman Sergeant Rich Weiner.

In the first raid, on January 26, police witnessed large quantities of marijuana being transferred from a South Columbus warehouse to a van, which police intercepted along with two smugglers, Hector Martinez, 36, of Columbus and Luis Miranda, 24, of Phoenix, Ariz. They were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. In total, approximately 2,055 pounds of marijuana were collected, said Sergeant Rich Weiner.

Police quickly learned that Luis Miranda's brother, Arnaldo Miranda, 25, was involved in the smuggling and intercepted him with $946,000 in cash at a residence he rented.

In the second raid on Friday, the investigation led to the seizure of an additional 800 pounds of marijuana at a home in Columbus.

All three men were arraigned on felony drug charges and are being held at Franklin County jail. Bail for each is set at $500,085 and no court date has been set.

(Reporting and Writing by Eric Johnson; Editing by Greg McCune)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110129/us_ ... juana_bust

Pot bust: Police get 800 lbs. in this one
Saturday, January 29, 2011 02:51 AM
By Meredith Heagney
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Police confiscated 800 pounds of marijuana from an Upper Arlington home yesterday. They say it is connected to three men arrested Wednesday after they were caught with 2,500 pounds of pot and nearly $1million in cash.

The rental property at 1311 Fishinger Rd. was unoccupied when officers arrived about 5 p.m. yesterday. They found a stash of pot worth about $1 million in the basement, said Columbus police detective Terry Black, who works for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force.

Black watched yesterday evening as officers unloaded, weighed and stacked bricks of marijuana wrapped in duct tape at the Columbus police property room on the South Side.

Some of the bricks bore stickers with corporate logos, which Black said are used by drug rings to keep track of supply. Police also found "drug ledgers" in the house, Black said.

Police were directed to the Fishinger Road house after Wednesday's arrests, Black said. One of the men arrested, Hector Ernesto Martinez, 36, stayed there, he said.

Martinez, along with brothers Arnaldo Ruben Miranda, 25, and Luis Alberto Miranda, 24, are in the Franklin County jail.

Martinez and Luis Miranda were arrested on Wednesday. Police said they saw them deliver marijuana to a South Side warehouse. Arnaldo Miranda was arrested soon after in a home on the Far East Side.

The bust was the result of a six-month investigation, Black said.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... ml?sid=101

Saw this on the local news. Upper Arlington is known as one of the better neighborhoods to live in around here. This is central Ohio, far away from the southwest border but there has been a number of large scale drug operation stings in the area more recently.