COLUMBUS, Ohio — Documents from federal court show the cases of Columbus Division of Police officers John Castillo and Joel Mefford, both arrested Thursday on drug charges, are related to the cases of former Columbus police narcotics detectives, John Kotchkoski and Marco Merino.
Kotchkoski and Merino were arrested in 2021 and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to distribute fentanyl.
On Thursday, federal authorities announced the arrests of officers Castillo and Mefford.
Court documents say that Castillo allegedly took 10 kilograms of cocaine from a house on North Everett Avenue in Columbus in Feb. 2021.
Instead of turning it into evidence, he allegedly planted two additional kilograms of cocaine for law enforcement to discover later in the day. The 10 kilograms were allegedly stored in another person's basement before they were given to someone else to sell.
Mefford is accused of stealing a kilogram of cocaine during a drug investigation in February 2020.
In February and March 2020, court documents allege Mefford was investigating drug-trafficking activity at homes on Kilbourne Avenue and Ambleside Drive on the city's north side. He is accused of stealing cocaine from the scenes and giving it to someone to sell.
Mefford is also accused of stealing 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Columbus police property room and replacing it with fake cocaine.
A document from the United States Southern District Court lists the cases of USA vs. Marco Merino and USA vs. John Kotchkoski as cases related to Castillo and Mefford's cases.
Authorities said Kotchkoski and Merino trafficked fentanyl from June to September 2021. They both plead guilty in 2022.
In February 2023, Merino was sentenced to nine years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and accepting bribes to protect the transportation of cocaine.
Kotchkoski is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
Their exact connections to Mefford and Castillo remain unclear.