Authorities conducted raids over the weekend, where they found thousands of poundsof pot with a street value of about $5 million, 10TV's Ashleigh Barry reported.
Guns, cash and other items were also seized.
SLIDESHOWS: MarijuanaSeized | SuspectsArrested
Investigators believe nearly a dozen people used a warehouse on Dering Avenue onthe city's south side as a distribution center to smuggle marijuana from Mexico.
The group allegedly used U-Haul trucks filled with toilet paper to hide the drugs,authorities said.
"These people were then breaking (marijuana) down into smaller amounts fordistribution on the streets," said Anthony Marotta of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
After arresting several people during the warehouse raid, the DEA said it receivedinformation about more drugs at two homes on the city's northwest side.
Agents said that an Upper Arlington home and an apartment on Leap Road in Hilliardwere also searched.
"We were going through books and records that were there at the (warehouse)location and that led us to additional addresses, one of them being in Upper Arlington, which wegarnered information out of that and then we leapfrogged onto another address in Hilliard," Marottasaid.
Marotta said that several thousand pounds of marijuana were found there and threemore people were arrested.
All 13 people arrested in connection with the raids were expected to be arraignedon Monday, 10TV's Tino Ramos reported.
U.S. Marshals identified those charged as: Tiffany A. Castle, of Columbus; Omar Perales, of Edinburg, Texas; Manuel Flores III, of Edinburg, Texas; DavidGuerra, of Pharr, Texas; Luis Alberto Gutierrez, of Austin, Texas; Clifford E. Johnson,of Columbus; Donald K. Stewart, of Columbus; Benjamin Graham Cotton, of Columbus; Randy Ray Castle, of Columbus, Randy Ray Castle Jr., of Columbus; Emmanuel Dale Butler,of Peoria, Ariz.; Samuel Mascias-Martinez, of Jalisco, Mexico; and Ricardo Rangel-Pena, ofColumbus.
They face conspiracy and drug trafficking charges, which carry a minimum of 10years in prison.
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November 28, 2010: $4 Million In Pot Confiscated From Warehouse, Upper Arlington Home
November 27, 2010: 11 Arrested In South Side Drug Bust
