COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ten people in Ohio and West Virginia are facing drug trafficking charges, and federal agents say a man from Los Angeles was their ringleader.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker announced Wednesday that the following people have been charged in a polydrug trafficking organization:
| Name | Age | City of residence |
| Darrell Enrico Maurice Peterman Sr. | 60 | Youngstown, Ohio |
| Susana Maria Orellana | 39 | Columbus, Ohio |
| Martel D. Owens | 38 | Springfield, Ohio |
| Dwayne Stanley Childs | 33 | Columbus, Ohio |
| Justin M. Berrien | 42 | Springfield, Ohio |
| Kelvin R. Battle | 47 | Springfield, Ohio |
| Jermaine Anthony Peterson | 37 | Springfield, Ohio |
| Linda Laura Marie Houle | 47 | Springfield, Ohio |
| Carl Dewayne Jenkins | 53 | Wadestown, W.Va. |
| James Ian Sheets | 49 | Fairview, W.Va. |
Parker states the drugs included in the arrests consist of 76 kilograms of fentanyl, including 115,500 fentanyl-laced pills, nine kilograms each of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, and distributable amounts of heroin and crack cocaine.
“In what is believed to be the largest single fentanyl seizure ever in the Southern District of Ohio, the government has removed approximately $4.5 million worth of fentanyl and fentanyl pills from our streets,” Parker said. “Today’s cooperative law enforcement operation has the potential to save lives.”
This investigation into the 10 arrested stems from the early June arrest of Isabel Odir Castellanos, of Los Angeles.
Court documents allege Castellanos, a business owner of a transportation company and a semi-truck driver who would frequently travel across the U.S., would bring the drugs from Los Angeles to Columbus to the home of Susana Orellana.
Orellana would then deliver the drugs to distributors who would sell them in Central Ohio, Youngstown and Springfield areas of Ohio as well as parts of West Virginia, according to court documents. Orellana would then allegedly collect the drug proceeds and return them to Castellanos before he returned to California.
“Many of the individual drug transactions charged involve tens of thousands of dollars. For example, one drug transaction detailed in an affidavit describes Orellana transporting 5,000 fentanyl pills to Childs’ home in Columbus in exchange for $36,000,” the release reads. “To date, law enforcement officials have seized from the defendants more than $478,000 in cash, a semi-truck, a Porsche Panamera, a BMW X5 and a GMC Terrain.”
All those arrested were scheduled to be in federal court Wednesday.