Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission seized more than $42 million in narcotics in 2021

The Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission seized more than $42 million in illegal drugs in 2021, surpassing the $29 million in confiscations the previous year, according to a news release.

The commission is a collaborative effort involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Gov. Mike DeWine and Homeland Securities Special Agent-in-Charge Vance Callender announced Wednesday that the commission’s major drug interdiction task forces confiscated the following drugs this year, compared with 2020:

• 15 pounds of heroin, compared with 8 pounds in 2020;
• 187 pounds of fentanyl, compared with 87 pounds in 2020;
• 472 pounds of methamphetamine, compared with 168 pounds in 2020;
• 297 pounds of cocaine, compared with 135 pounds in 2020;
• 2,478 pounds of marijuana, compared with 3,117 pounds in 2020.

The increase in seizure amounts is attributable to the addition of a new commission task force, the expansion of other task forces, increased levels of drug trafficking in Ohio and the culmination of long-term investigations, officials said in the release.

Also confiscated were 167 firearms, $4.5 million in currency, 7,906 opioid pain pills and 1,205 other prescription pain pills.

“Substantially larger quantities of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine were interdicted in 2021 than prior years, proof of our task forces’ vigilance to stay ahead of drug traffickers,” Yost said in the release. “I look forward to OOCIC’s continued success in 2022.”