Agents seize 8 pounds of methamphetamine from Columbus apartment; 2 arrested

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities seized eight pounds of methamphetamine from a Columbus apartment and two people were taken into custody in what the Drug Enforcement Administration is calling one of the largest arrests in years.

“It keeps the community safe; it’s getting drugs off the street,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent Michelle Spahn. “It keeps them from flooding the streets with their poison.”

10TV was on the scene as DEA agents and troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol searched the apartment Wednesday. Inside, they found more methamphetamine than the DEA has seized in a single arrest in recent years.

“It’s huge. Obviously, with the amount of methamphetamine that we’ve taken off the street, not only today, but throughout our investigation, that’s a significant amount of methamphetamine in the community. This is a bigger crash than we’ve had in the last couple of years of meth. These are significant dealers,” explained Shpan.

During the investigation, the DEA seized a total of 18 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with eight pounds of meth alone, on Wednesday. The DEA explains that the shrapnel was found to contain 99% pure crystal methamphetamine.

“Recently, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the distribution of methamphetamine and the amount of methamphetamine on the streets, especially crystal shards. This means that the purity is very, very high. That means it’s also highly addictive, Spahn said.

The DEA says the two men arrested have ties to a Mexican cartel but were trafficking in central Ohio.

Authorities hope these arrests will have a major impact on the flow of drugs into your community.

“We’ve taken a lot of drugs off the streets, but it also takes them out of the system, it takes them out of having the connections in the community to distribute to their customers,” Spahn said.

The two men have not yet been charged, but could face federal drug charges.