COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN)--The U.S. Attorney's Office says 18 people have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a scheme to smuggle drugs, cash, and fake immigration documents to central Ohio.
Officials say 13 of those indicted were taken into custody on Tuesday, with the other five being sought in California.
Diego Ernesto Castaneda-Garcia was allegedly the leader of a drug trafficking organization that received imported heroin from Mexico, repackaged it into user quantities and sold it to heroin users in and around Central Ohio.
Investigators say the ringleaders would arrange for apartments to be rented to runners, and for cars to be purchased to use for distribution of the contraband.
The group also produced fake documents regarding immigration, social security cards, and driver's licenses. Conspirators used the front business "Chilango's Perfumes", with "perfumes" used as the code word for the documents.