MANSFIELD, Ohio, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A yearlong storefront sting operation in Ohio targeting firearms and illegal drugs led to the indictment of 60 people, authorities said Tuesday.
Undercover agents working in a Mansfield, Ohio, store that sold sneakers, jerseys and other athletic apparel expressed interest in firearms and narcotics, Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said in a news release.
The sting led to the indictment of 26 people in federal court on firearms and drug-trafficking charges and 34 people on state drug-trafficking charges in Richland County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court, officials said.
The investigation led to the seizure of 70 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, more than 2,000 grams of cocaine (including crack), 1,099 Oxycodone pills, 215 ecstasy pills, 199 Vicodin pills, five grams of heroin and 36 pills of Aprazolam, officials said.
"This undercover operation was strategically targeted at felons and violent criminals who flooded Mansfield with prescription drugs, illegal narcotics and illegal firearms," Dettelbach said in the news release. "This investigation will shut off a significant pipeline of illegal firearms and drugs."
The indictments, which included 121 separate criminal charges, were returned Aug. 24 but were kept sealed until Tuesday, when federal and local agents arrested suspects.
