COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Police Gang Enforcement Unit served warrants at five homes across the city on Thursday which led to 27 arrests and drugs and weapons seized.
All 27 people were arrested at one home on Whitethorne Avenue in the Hilltop neighborhood. Police found cocaine, meth and fentanyl at the residence.
They also recovered firearms and said prostitution was happening at the home.
Police said they were looking into local gang activity.
“We are looking at several different gangs and gang members across the city and again we will have more info in the weeks to come, but because it is still active we don’t want to get into how many people and which exact gangs. But we want to say publicly if you are in a documented gang, you are on notice,” said Sgt. James Fuqua.
The investigation started when neighbors made reports to police with concerns about drug activity and prostitution.
“In this neighborhood, like a lot of neighborhoods across Columbus, you have so many young people, parents and guardians are afraid to have kids play outside in the yard because of gang retaliation where shots could be fired. Bullets have no names on them,” said Fuqua.
Fuqua said oftentimes, gang and drug activity go hand in hand.
“For anyone who is unaware, any time there are drugs there is almost always a nexus to some type of gang affiliation. They are not mutually exclusive, but a lot of times we have found through our investigations that gangs and drugs are still tied together very closely,” he said.
Fuqua said he was particularly concerned about the high levels of fentanyl that were recovered.
“Right now that is the most dangerous drug out there because such a small amount can cause such severe damage all the way up to death to any human that consumes it in an incorrect way,” he said.
Some of the 27 people were questioned and released but others remain in custody and could face multiple felony charges, police said. Some of the suspects were arrested by other municipalities, like Upper Arlington where they had outstanding warrants.