CLEVELAND — U.S. law enforcement officials said Tuesday they stopped a pipeline that allegedly brought 1,100 pounds of cocaine from Mexico to the Cleveland area.
The Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Attorney's Office announced authorities arrested three people who are facing drug trafficking charges.
Authorities arrested Christopher Ficklin and Robert Atkinson in the Cleveland area Tuesday with a third suspect, David Gomez-Orrantio, arrested at the U.S. and Mexico border on March 11. The trio faces 30 criminal counts combined, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Michelle M. Baeppler said.
Baeppler said the group is accused of using vehicles with hidden compartments to avoid detection.
Overall, law enforcement officials estimate around $13 million was trafficked back to Mexico.
Baeppler said that officers obtained an additional 22 pounds of cocaine from Atkinson’s residence during his arrest.
Federal officials alleged Gomez-Orrantio shipped cocaine from Mexico to a warehouse owned by Ficklin on Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland.
Ficklin then supplied that cocaine to Atkinson and others to be redistributed in the Cleveland area, Baeppler alleged.
Baeppler said that the investigation took multiple years.
“A pipeline that has sent massive quantities of drugs into our communities has been shut down,” Baeppler said. “Organizations like this that target communities like Cleveland, because they mistakenly assume they can operate either without detection or without people speaking out,” Baeppler said.
Drug Enforcement Agency special agent in charge Thomas Gergye wouldn’t describe the ring as the largest in the area, but said it was “a significant drug trafficking organization.”
“This is a significant dent. This is a major city,” Gergye said. “We definitely made a large impact on their organization.