Authorities dismantled a drug pipeline that poured more than 1,100 pounds of cocaine into Cleveland and sent $13 million in proceeds back to Mexico in a span of a few years, according to officials and an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Authorities say this cocaine was hidden in a truck compartment to conceal the drug from law enforcement on its way from Mexico to Cleveland. [U.S. DEA photo]CLEVELAND, Ohio –
The indictment says that Ficklin, 49, of Cleveland Heights, and David Gomez-Orrantia, 41, a Mexican national, worked to shuttle the cocaine into the city and the money out. The ring worked from about September 2017 through October 2021, prosecutors said. Ficklin is accused of redistributing large quantities of the drug to lower-level dealers, including Robert Atkinson, 41, of Cleveland, the indictment says.
The charges allege that Ficklin obtained hundreds of pounds of cocaine a month from Mexico, a move that began in the summer of 2020. On July 26, for instance, Ficklin provided $989,470 to a person who was responsible for delivering the shipments to Ficklin’s warehouse, according to the charges. On Oct. 13 of that year, Ficklin arrived at his warehouse where drugs had been stashed “operating a 2005 white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck registered to the city of Cleveland,” the indictment says.
On several days, the indictment says, Ficklin would text Gomez-Orrantia with the simple message: “I’m ready.” In a matter of days, according to the charges, a shipment of cocaine would be prepared and delivered.
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