-fdrom chroniclet.com-

By Adam Wright

Multi-Million Dollar cocaine ring shut down, with seven arrests

CLEVELAND — Authorities broke up the “largest and most violent drug operation” in the county with arrests on Thursday and Friday, cutting off a drug supply from a group they said was selling 30 kilograms of cocaine each month.
Seven men were arrested in Lorain and Elyria following a 10-month investigation, U.S. Attorney Greg White said, capping off a 10-month investigation by law enforcement agencies throughout Northeast Ohio.
All seven were charged in connection with the sale and distribution of cocaine and heroin to customers in Lorain and western Cuyahoga counties. Each man is in the custody of U.S. Marshals at jails throughout the area and faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison if convicted, White said.
Standing behind a table filled with 27 kilograms of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $2.5 million, and baggies full of wadded-up $100 bills, White said the men were arrested between 3 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday. Some were in Lorain, he said, others were apprehended at the Elyria Holiday Inn.
The alleged ringleader, Marcos Marcano, 26, of 202 E. 23rd St. in Lorain, was picked up during a traffic stop, according to an FBI spokesman.
Marcano would purchase between 27 to 30 kilograms of cocaine each month from distributors in California and Mexico and then sell it all to his cohorts, White said. The other men would then sell the drugs locally after cutting them with chemicals, doubling their stash and profit.
Authorities are still trying to determine how long the group had been operating.
“This was one of the most sophisticated operations in terms of their shrewdness,” White said. “Marcano ruled his neighborhood by intimidation and fear. They used multiple hotel rooms, multiple phones and multiple vehicles to elude detection.”
Authorities suspected Marcano was starting to catch on to their investigation, which is why they moved so swiftly to capture everyone, the FBI spokesman said. Fifteen packages of cocaine were confiscated at the Holiday Inn — where a distributor from California was staying — while two handguns and $40,000 in cash were taken from Marcano’s home, he said.
White said it wasn’t the largest supply of drugs ever confiscated in the area, but it will put a large dent in the region’s drug trade.
“This made a major impact on drug trafficking,” he said. “This was the largest and most violent (drug operation) in Lorain County and Marcano was a renowned drug supplier.”
More charges and arrests are expected in the coming months, he said, including a California man suspected of aiding with the distribution of cocaine.
Members of the Lorain and Elyria police departments, the county Drug Task Force, county prosecutor’s office, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Caribbean Gang Task Force aided in the investigation.