2nd Quarter Newsletter

METRICH Enforcement Unit
Information
Bulletin
2nd Qtr 16, No. 02-16
30 Years Serving North Central Ohio Communities
June 2016
Inside this issue:
Ashland busts nets drugs, cash
and gun
Ashland County
2
Man charged in search
Seneca County
2
Search nets large quantities of
drugs
Richland County
3
Police dog finds drugs, cash
Marion County
3
Three arrested after active
meth lab found
Wyandot County
4
Meth lab found in Galion
Crawford County
4
Residents turn
pounds of drugs
Regional
5
in
2,000
Toledo man arrested on drug
charges
Seneca County
5
Traffickers arrested after 7month probe
Hancock County
6
Mansfield man charged with
heroin trafficking
Richland County
6
Three major drug figures
arrested
Marion County
7
METRICH Central Office
30 N. Diamond Street
Mansfield, Ohio 44902
Raid in Crestline nets drugs, guns
Crawford County
Two people are in custody following
a Sunday raid at 724 Brown St., which
netted drugs and guns and evidence of
methamphetamine use in the home, according to a news release from the
Crestline Police Department.
The search warrant was the result of
an ongoing investigation into complaints and tips of manufacturing illegal
substances.
During the search, officers found
cash, methamphetamine, guns, knives,
clubs and evidence of heroin and methamphetamine use in the home, according to Crestline police.
Two people were arrested in connection with a
raid in Crestline Sunday where authorities
found cash, drugs and guns in the home at
724 Brown St.
Mathew P. Cobb, 31, 724 Brown St.,
was arrested on charges of possession of
chemicals to manufacturing drugs, manufacturing of drugs, weapons under disability, felony criminal damaging, felo-
A raid in Crestline Sunday netted cash, methamphetamine, guns, knives, clubs, evidence of heroin and methamphetamine.
ny tampering with evidence, possession of
drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Cobb also had a felony warrant from
Morrow County on a probation violation,
according to police.
Cami l. Neese, 25, of Upper Sandusky,
is being held for a probation violation,
according to the news release.
The Crestline Police Department was
assisted by officers from the Crawford
County Sherriff’s Office, Bucyrus Police
Department, Galion Police Department,
Galion Fire Department, Crestline Fire
Department, and METRICH Special Investigative Unit.
Originally published in the Telegraph Forum on April 5, 2016
Page 2
METRICH Enforcement Unit
2nd Qtr 16, No. 2-16
Ashland bust nets drugs, cash, gun
Ashland County
A drug bust resulted in seven
arrests and authorities seizing over
12 pounds of suspected marijuana,
two pounds of suspected cocaine,
45 grams of suspected heroin, a
loaded .380 handgun and more than
$60,000 in cash.
The estimated street value of the
narcotics confiscated Friday is approximately $150,000, according to
a news release from Ashland police
Capt. David A. Lay. With the help
of the public, law enforcement put
a large dent in the local drug trade
with this case, he said.
Ashland Police, in cooperation
with the METRICH Enforcement
Unit, Mansfield Police Department
ASORT and the Ashland County
Sheriff’s Office, served a search
warrant for narcotics at 2242 Oakcrest Lane. The case was a result of
citizen complaints starting in 2008
referring to possible drug activity at
the residence, according to Ashland
police. The Ohio Highway Patrol
and the Ashland County Child Protective Services also assisted police.
The following were arrested on
warrants:
Kelly L. Johnson, 39, of Ashland, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of
heroin and tampering with evidence; Vincent D. Ajian, 24, of
Mansfield, tampering with evidence; Jonathan G. Ransom, 35, of
Columbus, complicity to money
laundering; Shasta A. Harrington,
36, of Columbus, complicity to
money laundering; Burton L. Hester, 43, of Worthington, tampering
with evidence; Robert C. France,
22, of Mansfield, on a bond revocation relating to a prior possession
of cocaine charge out of the Ashland Common Pleas Court; and
Lauren E. Andress, 27, of Ashland,
for obstructing official business.
Originally published in the News
Journal on May 18, 2016.
Man charged in search
Seneca County
Police arrested a person of interest in connection with an alleged
fatal overdose Saturday night.
Detective Chuck Boyer, of Seneca County Drug Task Force - METRICH Enforcement Unit, said
Tyree L. Carpenter, 34 was arrested
and charged with trafficking heroin,
a third-degree felony, and trafficking crack cocaine, a fourth-degree
felony, as a result of a search Saturday at his residence, 621 N. Union
St., in Fostoria.
Earlier Saturday, an alleged
overdose was reported at Arby's,
301 N. Countyline St., Fostoria.
"We believe (the residence) was
related to the overdose," Boyer
said.
Fostoria Police Department
Chief Keith Loreno said the overdose at Arby's was fatal. He did not
release further information about
the incident late Saturday night.
Boyer said heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, criminal tools and
approximately $1,300 in cash were
seized in the search that started at
about 8 p.m. Saturday.
He said Carpenter lived with
other people at the residence.
Fostoria Police Department assisted METRICH Enforcement
Unit during the search.
Boyer said the incident was under investigation Saturday night
and further charges of trafficking of
heroin, permitting drug abuse and
possession of criminal tools were
pending for Carpenter.
"This is another example of multiple law enforcement agencies around
Fostoria working together to send
another clear message that the drug
dealers are not welcomed here in our
city," Loreno said in a release.
"These distributors of illegal drugs
have destroyed far too many lives. As
long as our citizens and police stay
vigilant, together we will continue to
reduce the criminals ability to supply
these poisons."
Originally published in The Advertiser Tribune on April 3, 2016.
Page 3
METRICH Enforcement Unit
2nd Qtr 16, No. 2-16
Search nets large quantities of drugs
Richland County
Officers arrested two people and
seized cocaine, heroin, prescription
medication, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a loaded gun and cash
while executing a search warrant
Thursday.
After receiving complaints of suspicious activity, METRICH Task
Force, Mansfield Police Department, ASORT and the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a
search warrant at 1533 Maxwell
Drive in Mansfield, according to a
news release from METRICH. The
search warrant was signed by Judge
Jerry Ault.
Drug investigators seized more than
2,000 unit doses of prescription
medication, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a loaded gun, cash, 100
grams of cocaine and more than
200 grams of heroin, an amount
nearly the size of a baseball, according to the release.
Charles McCoy, 63, and his girlfriend, Mary L. Bernhardt, 26, were
arrested and incarcerated. Both
were charged with possession of
heroin and possession of cocaine,
and McCoy was charged with possession of Oxycodone. All are felony-level charges.
Additional charges will be presented to the Richland County Prosecu-
tor's Office.
METRICH Commander Lt. Joy
Stortz commended the investigators
for their relentless efforts to remove
drugs from the community.
Originally published in the News
Journal on April 28, 2016.
Police dog finds drugs, cash
Marion County
After deploying K-9 Stash,
METRICH-MARMET detectives
found "a large amount" of pills as
well as cocaine and marijuana during a Wednesday traffic stop, according to a press release from Lt.
Chris Adkins.
Dublin resident Petar Auob, 23,
was arrested and charged in Marion
Municipal Court with trafficking in
drugs, a third-degree felony, on
Thursday.
Auob was pulled over around
11:30 a.m., according to the press
release. An initial investigation was
conducted before Stash's search,
and he led detectives to 447 Xanax
pills, 17 grams of marijuana and
2.1 grams of cocaine. Detectives
also seized $1,804 and the vehicle,
a 2012 Volkswagen Passat.
A municipal court hearing is
scheduled for April 14, although
felony-level charges in Marion Municipal Court generally are a pre-
cursor to a Marion County grand
jury indictment and subsequent trial in Marion County Common
Pleas Court.
Auob had no previous charges
in Marion County Common Pleas
Court or in Delaware, Franklin or
Union County Common Pleas
courts, all of which have jurisdiction over parts of Dublin.
The Dublin Mayor's Court
showed Auob had September 2013
convictions for drug abuse and possession of drug paraphernalia and
received a $550 fine.
Stash joined the Marion Police
Department in May 2015 through
community donations and is the
department's drug-specific dog. His
handler is Detective Andrew Isom.
"Sheriff Tim Bailey, Chief Bill
Collins and Prosecutor Brent Yager
continue to provide the resources
needed to help Marion fight the
drug epidemic which ... has taken a
Items seized by the MARMET Drug Task
Force after a search by K-9 Stash.
strong hold over our community,"
Adkins said in the news release.
Originally published in the Marion
Star on April 8, 2016.
Page 4
METRICH Enforcement Unit
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Three arrested after active meth lab found in Upper
Wyandot County
Three people were arrested Friday evening after area law enforcement officials received word of active methamphetamine lab at the
Parkway Estate mobile home park
on North Warpole Street.
The Upper Sandusky Police Department received a call around
4:15 p.m. indicating there was an
active lab in the mobile home park,
according to Sgt. Kerwin Wisely of
the Wyandot County Sheriff’s Office.
A detective from the Upper
Sandusky Police then contacted
Wisely and Deputy Ed Gottfried
and the three went to the trailer
park to observe the residence.
While officers were observing
the residence, a male subject exited
and the detectives told him the information they had received.
After receiving permission to go
inside, law enforcement entered the
residence where they found the active meth lab, Wisely said.
All three people present at the
residence were taken into custody.
The names of those arrested
were not released.
Wisely said it appears a substantial amount of meth, both finished
product and uncooked, was being
removed.
Officials were still on the scene
disposing of the lab and collecting
evidence at 10:30 p.m. Friday.
It is the first methamphetamine
lab that has been found by law enforcement in Wyandot County
since 2014.
Wyandot County Sheriff Mike
Hetzel, who also was on-scene,
noting the ingredients in cooking
methamphetamine can be highly
volatile, said there is no longer any
danger to residents of the mobile
home park.
In addition to the Upper
Sandusky Police Department and
the Wyandot County Sheriff’s Office, the Upper Sandusky Fire De-
An investigator from the Bureau of Criminal
Investigation syphons ingredients into a
plastic jar from a methamphetamine lab
found at the Parkway Estates mobile home
park, while a firefighter looks on with a
hose in case of an explosion, on Friday
night. Three people were arrested by local
law enforcement officials at the mobile
home after the Upper Sandusky Police
Department received a tip about the active
lab.
partment, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Wyandot County
Prosecutor’s Office and METRICH
assisted with the investigation.
Originally published in the Daily Chief
Union on May 7, 2016
Meth lab found in Galion
Crawford County
On Wednesday police, after receiving a complaint about a possible meth lab at 675 Dawsett Ave. in
Galion, raided the house there and
allegedly found a mobile meth lab.
"Evidence was seized indicating
the manufacturing of methamphetamine in the garage utilizing the
'shake and bake' method. METRICH officers were able to safely
recover the evidence and make the
area safe," Galion Police Chief Brian C. Saterfield said.
In addition to METRICH and
the Galion Police Department, the
Galion Fire Department and Crawford County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene.
Arrested at the scene were Korinthia Wireman, 24, and Dustin
Lowe, both of Galion. Wireman is
being held in the Crawford County
jail pending charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and permitting drug abuse, while a charge of
permitting drug abuse awaits Lowe,
who is also in the jail.
"These situations are extremely
dangerous. The chemicals and procedure associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine are
highly volatile," Saterfield said.
"We are fortunate that we have
experts available through our association with METRICH that have
the ability to diffuse and clean up
the contamination."
Originally published in the News
Journal on April 14, 2016.
Page 5
METRICH Enforcement Unit
2nd Qtr 16, No. 2-16
Residents turn in 2,000 pounds of drugs
Regional
Area residents turned in more
than 2,000 pounds of drugs Saturday as part of the National Prescription Drug Take-Back event.
Law enforcement agencies from
the surrounding counties and nine
of the 10 METRICH regions participated in the event, which is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement
Administration and was called a
huge success because of community participation resulting in the collection of 2,036.2 pounds of unwanted, expired and unused pre-
scription drugs.
Sgt. Steve Blust commended
people who participated in the
event and the chiefs and sheriffs in
their respective communities who
realize the importance of properly
disposing of prescription drugs.
Ashland County led the area
with 421.5 pounds collected, followed by Marion (348), Richland
(279), Huron (242.3), Knox
(195.6), Crawford (193), Seneca
(143.6), Morrow (114.2) and Wyandot (99).
Originally published in the News Journal on May 2, 2016.
Toledo man arrested on drug charges
Seneca County
A Toledo man was arrested after a search warrant was executed
at a Bettsville home Wednesday.
According to a release from
Seneca County Drug Task Force METRICH Enforcement Unit, personnel from Seneca County Sheriff's Office, Tiffin Police Department, Fostoria Police Department,
Bettsville Police Department, Seneca County Dog Warden and U.S.
Postal inspectors assisted METRICH agents during the search at
8886 N. SR 590, the home of Nicole E.M. Yoder, 28, and Terrance
L. Hill, 24.
Detective Don Joseph of Seneca
County Sheriff's Office said more
than $3,600 in cash, more than
4,000 prescription pills, about an
ounce of cocaine and criminal tools
were seized during the search.
Devante Woods, 23, was
charged with possession of cocaine,
a first-degree felony, and possession of prescription pills, a second-
degree felony. Additional charges
of possession of marijuana, possession of criminal tools and additional trafficking in drugs charges are
pending upon completion of lab
analysis, the release states.
Joseph said Woods had been
staying at the home for about one
week.
He said the investigation began
Tuesday when U.S. Postal inspectors called METRICH to report
suspicious activity at the residence.
Joseph said charges could be assessed to Yoder and Hill upon completion of the investigation.
Joseph praised the organizations
involved in the operation for working
together.
"We will continue to work together with local and outside agencies to
combat the distribution of illegal
drugs in our communities," Sheriff
Bill Eckelberry of Seneca County
Sheriff's Office said in a release
Wednesday night.
Joseph said he was pleased to remove
that amount of pills and cocaine from
the streets.
The warrant was signed by Seneca
County Common Pleas Court Judge
Steve Shuff.
Woods was being held at Seneca
County Jail Wednesday night.
Originally published in the Advertiser Tribune on June 9, 2016
Page 6
METRICH Enforcement Unit
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Traffickers arrested after 7-month probe
Hancock County
Law enforcement agencies are
cracking down on drug traffickers
in Findlay, but it takes time to obtain evidence, then find and arrest
the suspects, officials say.
On Thursday, members of the
Hancock County METRICH Drug
Task Force arrested three Findlay
residents on separate drug warrants
following a seven-month investigation. Two other Findlay suspects
were located and arrested on warrants Thursday in Marion.
Twenty-five people, including
the five on Thursday, have been
arrested on drug charges in recent
weeks after secret indictments were
issued by a Hancock County grand
jury.
There are more to be arrested,
according to Findlay Police Detective Sgt. Justin Hendren. “We’ve
been busy,” Hendren said.
Many of the individuals came in
contact with law enforcement and
ended up getting arrested over the
past several weeks, Hendren said.
On Thursday, the task force targeted around 13 people for arrest.
Gathering before the sun rose,
members of the task force discussed who they wanted off the
street.
“We’re putting drug dealers in
jail,” Hendren said. “It’s kind of a
wake-up call. Probably within the
next hour or two, there’s going to
be a lot of nervous drug dealers.”
Dustin D. Boes, 34, Vincent R.
Turner, 25, and Brae A. Cook, 26,
all of Findlay, were arrested Thursday by authorities for drug-related
charges.
Amanda A. Bryan, 34, and Joshua K. Combs, 27, both of Findlay,
were located by Marion authorities
and arrested on local charges
Thursday.
“Any time we can take a known
drug dealer off the street and make
heroin or whatever drug they’re
selling less available in our community, it’s a success,” Hendren
said.
“Hopefully this will send a message to drug dealers that we are
actively pursuing them and we
won’t stop until we catch them,”
Seem said.
The number of drug possession
and drug trafficking cases continues to increase each year, Hancock
County Prosecutor Mark Miller
said.
Locating a suspect can pose a
large challenge for law enforcement because “they don’t stay put
very long,” Hendren said.
“The folks that have been in the
system and have been around the
block, they know what they’re doing,” Hendren said. “When they’re
moving narcotics, they know it draws
attention so … they don’t stay in the
same spot very long.”
Officials sometimes obtain information about drug activity from Hancock County residents. Sometimes
those tips include limited information, leaving law enforcement to
put the pieces together.
“There’s a lot of things that go on
behind the scene that are very, very
time-consuming that sometimes the
general public doesn’t quite understand,” Hendren said.
“I’d love to wrap up a case in a
week but it’s just not going to happen,” he said.
Police spent time Thursday
searching for a home, with an unknown house number or street name,
based on a tip. The home was eventually located based on clues from a
photo.
Looking for one person, who may
or may not be living in such a residence, takes a lot of time, Hendren
said. But police have to look into it,
he said.
Building a case also takes surveillance to confirm what a tipster says is
happening, Hendren said.
Originally published in the Courier
on June 18, 2016.
Mansfield man charged with heroin trafficking
Richland County
A Mansfield man was arrested
on charges of trafficking in heroin
during a METRICH drug raid.
The METRICH Task Force,
Mansfield Police Department,
ASORT and the Federal Bureau of
Investigations conducted a search
at 1005 Maumee Ave. The investi-
gation came after citizen complaints of suspicious activity. The
search warrant was signed by Judge
Jerry Ault.
Tyron Gray, 45, 1005 Maumee
Ave., was charged with two fourthdegree felony counts of trafficking
in heroin and incarcerated.
METRICH Sgt. Steve Blust commended community members for
reaching out to local law enforcement
and reporting drug activity in their
neighborhoods.
Originally published in the News
Journal on May 12, 2016.
Page 7
METRICH Enforcement Unit
2nd Qtr 16, No.
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Qtr 16, No. 2-16
Three major drug figures arrested
Marion County
Three
METRICH-MARMET
investigations led to major arrests
in the first half on May, ending
with the Sunday arrest of a former
Marion Correctional Institution
contractor and rehabilitation speaker.
Marion resident Najmuddeen
Salaam, 46, was arrested in Delaware County and found in possession of 365 grams of cocaine and
$1,000 in cash, according to METRICH-MARMET. Salaam was
stopped with assistance from the
Ohio Highway Patrol, and METRICH-MARMET.
Salaam previously spent 18
years in prison for rape but began
volunteering at MCI a year after his
2009 release. Initially, he was a
paid contractor mentoring inmates,
but a 2012 provision of the Prison
Rape Elimination Act bars individuals with a sex offense conviction
from working as employees or contractors at a prison.
Because of his rape conviction,
Salaam was no longer allowed to
work there and lost his job Dec. 27,
2013, though he was still allowed
to enter as a volunteer\
Police Chief Bill Collins said
they had been investigating Salaam
for two months before the arrest,
due to suspicions Salaam was
bringing drugs into Marion Correctional Institution and helping inmates continue drug trafficking
operations.
"(Salaam) pretty much had free
reign of the prison (Marion Correctional Institution)," Collins said.
Collins said they did not know
of Salaam being involved with other prison facilities. ODRC spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said in an
email that "all employees, contrac-
tors, visitors, volunteers and guests
are subject to standardized search
procedures" upon entering state
prison facilities, though she could
not elaborate on those procedures
for security reasons.
Smith also said they are in the
process of terminating "any contract" with Salaam, and her statements indicated he had been able to
work there again as a contractor
after his 2013 termination due to
the federal law regarding sex offense convictions.
She said his current sub-contract
was with non-profit group Healing
Broken Circles, and their website
listed Salaam as Community Development Facilitator. A call to
Healing Broken Circles' executive
director was not returned.
The other two men arrested
were involved in trafficking pills -one was allegedly a local seller
while the other was a distributor in
Detroit who allegedly supplied him
and others.
Wayne Wallace Jr., 41, was arrested in Toledo on May 11, after a
two week investigation by METRICH-MARMET, the Toledo Metro Drug Task Force and DEA officials in Detroit.
Wallace was arrested after a
short foot pursuit. 298 pills were
seized, worth $10,430, and that
Wallace was suspected of supplying Marion drug traffickers with
"up to 2,000 pills a week."
On May 13, agents from the Detroit DEA office served a search
warrant at Wallace's home and
seized 11 firearms and around 500
pills, worth $17,395. Wallace will
face a second-degree felony charge
of trafficking in drugs.
Before Wallace's arrest, Marion
resident Anthony Alexander was arrested and a search warrant was
served in the 1000 block of Richmond Avenue, leading to seizure of
$20,105 in cash, 631 pills and 384
grams of marijuana. His arrest concluded an investigation by METRICH-MARMET and Marion County Adult Probation.
Alexander, 31, had prior local
convictions for aggravated possession of drugs and cocaine trafficking.
More charges against all three are
expected, and the press release said
METRICH-MARMET would continue working with other agencies to
combat drug trafficking.
"May 2016 has proven to be a
great month in seizing drugs and
(drug sale) proceeds," Collins said.
Without the work of METRICHMARMET detectives, Collins said,
those drugs would have been on the
street.
Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey said he "could not be more
proud" of the work METRICHMARMET has done in recent years
and would continue to support them
in protecting the community. The
METRICH-MARMET Task Force
includes police and sheriff's detectives as well as Marion County Prosecutor Brent Yager.
Originally published in The Marion
Star on May 17, 2016.
Page 8
METRICH Enforcement Unit
2nd Qtr 16, No. 2-16
30 Years Serving North Central Ohio Communities
METRICH (Metro-Richland County) Enforcement Unit is a ten
county law enforcement task force created to address multijurisdictional violators of Ohio’s drug, weapons, and organized
crime statutes. The project operates with a basic “Community
Policing Philosophy” using a “Weed and Seed Strategy “ from
ten “de-centralized” offices.
Project Director, Chief Ken Coontz
Phone: (419) 755-9753
Email: [email protected]
METRICH Central Office
30 N. Diamond St
Mansfield, Ohio 44902
Phone: 419-755-9728
Fax: 419-522-7546
Participating agencies: Ashland, Crawford, Hancock, Huron,
Marion, Morrow, Richland, Seneca, Wyandot County Sheriff’s
Offices and Prosecutors Offices; Ashland, Loudonville, Bucyrus,
Crestline, Galion, Findlay, Bellevue, Greenwich, Monroeville,
New London, Norwalk, Plymouth, Wakeman, Willard, Mt.
Vernon, Marion, Mt. Gilead, Lexington, Mansfield, Ontario, Shelby, Fostoria, Tiffin, Carey, Upper Sandusky Police Departments;
Ohio State Highway Patrol; Ohio Department of Public Safety;
BCI&I, Ohio State Board of Pharmacy; U.S Department of Housing & Urban Development; FBI; ATF; DEA; IRS.
Points of Contact
Ashland County
FBI
Det. Brian Evans, Access Officer (419) 289-3639
S/A Matt Komar (419) 525-2200
Crawford County
IRS-CID
Sgt Chris Heydinger, Access Officer (419) 562-7906
SAC Rowland Cresswell (419) 259-7440
S/A Jeffrey M. Paul (330) 375-5514
Hancock County
Sgt. Jason Seem, Access Officer (419) 424-7887
Huron County
Sgt. Seth Fry, Access Officer (419) 663-8960
Knox County
Det. J.T. DeChant, Access Officer (740) 393-9534
Marion County
Lt. Chris Adkins, Access Officer (740) 387-2222
Morrow County
Det. Mark Colburn, Access Officer 419-946-4444
Richland County
Deputy Chief Keith Porch, Access Officer (419) 755-9743
DEA
A/RAC Gene Corley (216) 274-3600
ATF
Lance Kimmell, Group Supervisor (216) 522-8100
Ohio BCI&I
S/A Mike Masterson, Investigations (419) 353-5603
S/A Fred Moore, Investigations (740) 845-2000
Chrissie Ross, Analyst (330) 884-7510
Ohio Investigative Unit
AAIC Greg Croft, Marion (614) 644-2413
AIC Rita Raimer, Akron (330) 644-0318
AIC Ray Rodriguez, Toledo (419) 866-9907
Seneca County
Det Chuck Boyer, Access Officer (419) 447-2323
Wyandot County
Sgt. Kerwin Wisely, Access Officer (419) 294-2362
METRICH Information Bulletin P.O.C.: Joan Hoffert, 30 N. Diamond St., Mansfield, Ohio 44902 (419) 755-9728