Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

COLUMBUS, Ohio – This morning federal agents arrested individuals charged as part of a national narcotics distribution operation bringing drugs into Central Ohio from California.

They have been charged by criminal complaints for allegedly participating in a polydrug trafficking organization involving 76 kilograms of fentanyl including 115,500 fentanyl-laced pills, nine kilograms each of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, and distributable amounts of heroin and crack cocaine.

“In what is believed to be the largest single fentanyl seizure ever in the Southern District of Ohio, the government has removed approximately $4.5 million worth of fentanyl and fentanyl pills from our streets,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Today’s cooperative law enforcement operation has the potential to save lives.”

This investigation stems from the early-June arrest of Isabel Odir Castellanos, of Los Angeles.

Those charged today include:

According to the charging documents, Castellanos transported narcotics from Los Angeles to Columbus via semi-truck. Castellanos is a business owner of a transportation company and a semi-truck driver who frequently travels across the United States.

It is alleged Castellanos delivered the narcotics to Susana Orellana’s residence in Columbus, which served as a stash house. Orellana then allegedly delivered the drugs to mid-level retail distributors. Those mid-level retailers then allegedly sold the drugs in Central Ohio, Youngstown, Ohio, Springfield, Ohio and in West Virginia.

Orellana allegedly collected the drug proceeds and provided them to Castellanos before he returned to California.

Many of the individual drug transactions charged involve tens of thousands of dollars. For example, one drug transaction detailed in an affidavit describes Orellana transporting 5,000 fentanyl pills to Childs’ home in Columbus in exchange for $36,000.

To date, law enforcement officials have seized from the defendants more than $478,000 in cash, a semi-truck, a Porsche Panamera, a BMW X5 and a GMC Terrain.

Defendants are making their initials appearances in federal court in Columbus today.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; and Orville Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the charges and commended the cooperative investigation including the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Springfield Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Hunter is representing the United States in this case.

Criminal complaints merely contain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.