A total of 53 people were arrested and numerous guns and kilograms of drugs were seized as a result of a joint, months-long operation by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Columbus police to combat drugs and violent crime in the city’s Easthaven area on the city’s East and Southeast sides, officials announced Wednesday.
Mayor Andrew Ginther and Columbus Division of Police leadership joined DEA Special Agent Orville Greene at a press conference to announce the results of of the effort, which is part of a national DEA effort dubbed “Operation Overdrive.”
Ginther said the goal of the partnership, which also involved state agencies, was to rid Columbus neighborhoods of violent crime as the city has experienced an increase in homicides this year. As of early Wednesday afternoon, Columbus has had 53 homicides this year.
“Here’s the bottom line: the criminal gangs that were the focus of our campaign in Easthaven were delivered a major blow thanks to the combined contributions of all our partners,” Ginther said.
Operation Overdrive, which began in October of last year is a national DEA initiative where dozens of U.S. cities, including Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland were selected for targeted enforcement in the campaign.
Greene said the 53 arrested were harming the Columbus community through violence, drug trafficking and drug poisonings. The DEA uses a “data, intelligence-led approach” to go after drug trafficking operating in areas of the highest rate of drug-related violent crimes and overdoses.
“This organization was dealing quantities that had the potential to kill thousands,” Greene said.
Group in Easthaven was responsible for drug trafficking, financial crimes
Columbus police Deputy Chief Robert Sagle said 14 of the 53 people arrested were priority arrest targets using data that showed they were responsible for a large amount of violent crime in the area. Charges against the suspects range from drug trafficking to weapons violations and financial crimes.
The Easthaven neighborhood was the center of the operation, but authorities said the target area a wider area of the East and Southeast sides that was bordered by East Livingston Avenue to the north, Refugee Road to the South, Hamilton Road to the eaest and U.S. 33 to the west.
Through the local Operation Overdrive effort, officials said law enforcement seized distribution levels of narcotics, including:
- 337 grams of fentanyl
- 50 firearms, including rifles, shotguns and pistols
- Three conversion devices which allow pistols to fire as automatic weapons
- 42 grams of heroin
- 2,662 grams of cocaine
- 32,717 grams of marijuana
Sagle added that members of the criminal organization were also involved in financial crimes like welfare fraud that they were using to finance other parts of their scheme.
U.S. attorney in Columbus pledges prosecution on major drug crimes
Kenneth Parker, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, who also attended the press event, warned people participating in organized crime to reconsider their lives before they find themselves before a federal court.
Just because Operation Overdrive is over does not mean that efforts to prosecute drug and violent crimes that undermine safety in Columbus will not continue.
“While we cannot prosecute our way out of (the drug epidemic) — we will still prosecute you,” Parker said.