The Ottawa County Drug Task Force handled fewer indictments or bills of information in 2013 than it did the previous year — but, once again, a good deal of the work was done in Port Clinton. “The 67 Drug Task Force indictments charged a total of 167 felony offenses, 73 of which occurred within the […]

Bath salts and synthetic marijuana were targets of a drug sweep conducted Wednesday by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. The synthetic drugs are illegal in Ohio, but authorities learned that some retail stores continued to sell products containing the drugs after the ban.

The Summit/Akron HIDTA task force, agents from the DEA Cleveland Resident Office, along with numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, arrested Garland V. Phelps Jr. and Alonzo B. Sykes, with 20 other individuals on January 14, resulting in the dismantlement of a heroin trafficking organization. Since 2012, the Phelps/Sykes organization distributed multiple kilograms […]

A Grafton Township couple has been indicted on federal conspiracy, drug and money laundering charges for allegedly running a chain of head shops that sold synthetic marijuana across the state. Sean and Sherry Lightner, both 38, allegedly purchased and sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the illegal substances with names like “Bizzaro,” “Hammer […]

The owners of Twilight Boutique, 2032 W. Fourth St., were among five people indicted on a charge of conspiracy to distribute synthetic cannabinoids for their reported sale of products with names such as spice and K2, said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Sean Lightner and Sherry Lightner, both 38 […]