SIDNEY — Authorities seized drugs and cash Tuesday from a Sidney house they said is connected with a drug cartel.
The seizure was part of a larger operation that began Monday in Montgomery County when Jose Morales-Medina, 40, was arrested on drug, weapon and immigration charges during a traffic stop.
Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart said that for the past month the Sheriff’s Office has been providing surveillance on a residence in Sidney at the request of the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force. Detectives were advised that subjects residing at the residence were connected to a drug cartel.
On Monday, local detectives were advised that a traffic stop had been conducted on a known subject connected to the cartel. The subject was known to be connected to three residences, one of which was in Sidney. A search warrant was obtained for 526 S. Miami Ave., Sidney, the residence of Brandon Park. Park was not arrested.
Shelby County detectives, along with members of the task force, served the search warrant at the Sidney residence and found $100,000 and a small amount of drugs.
During Monday’s operation, the task force confiscated over $450,000 and seven kilos (22 pounds) of heroin.
“The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is pleased with the outcome of this investigation, as we are continually striving to go after main drug dealers in our community who are providing drugs to our citizens,” Lenhart said. “Removing 22 pounds of heroin off the streets has a big impact on users getting their drugs, plus taking $450,000 from the dealers hits them hard.
“We are very pleased with the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force. We thank them for allowing us to be part of this investigation and we look forward to working with them in the future as we continue to combat heroin use in Shelby County.”
According to an Associated Press story, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said at a news conference Tuesday the seizure Monday stemmed from a two-month investigation. The sheriff’s statement says search warrants conducted at three houses the suspect had been using in Montgomery and Shelby counties yielded heroin, five handguns and an additional $150,000.
Authorities said Morales-Medina was in the country illegally and had been deported three times for criminal charges.
At the a news conference Tuesday, authorities said the drugs were pure heroin from Mexico and were brought to Ohio by the Sinaloa drug cartel, WDTN, a news partner of the Sidney Daily News, reported.
Plummer said the drug cartels in the Miami Valley are serious about their business and have gone as far as threatening law enforcement officers. Plummer said to the cartels, “Stay out of Montgomery County and stay out of the Miami Valley.”
Plummer also said the cartel involved here is the same group that helped El Chapo escape from a Mexican prison in July.
Plummer attributed 264 deaths last year to the cartels and their drug activity in the area.
Medina is currently in the Montgomery County Jail.
No further arrests are expected in this investigation, but Plummer said many more investigations are ongoing and expect more activity soon.
