Ohio sits at a crossroads of the nation’s drug trade, with its extensive interstate highway system and proximity to major cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York City making it a prime corridor for drug trafficking.
The state’s largest urban centers and transportation routes have become hotspots for the distribution and movement of illicit drugs, impacting both local communities and neighboring states.
Columbus: The Epicenter of Drug Distribution
Recent analyses and law enforcement reports consistently identify Columbus as a primary distribution hub for drug trafficking in Ohio. Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have established Columbus as a central point for the wholesale distribution of cocaine, heroin (especially Mexican brown powder and black tar), marijuana, and increasingly, methamphetamine.
These DTOs have largely displaced other groups, such as Dominican and Jamaican organizations, in the Columbus area, making the city a key supplier for drug markets throughout Ohio, as well as West Virginia and western Pennsylvania…