Raids at 6 locations in Montgomery Co. part of investigation into ‘substantial’ drug operation

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A six month long investigation into a suspected marijuana operation led to several search warrants being conducted in Montgomery County Thursday morning.

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The joint investigation involving the regional Tactical Crime Suppression Unit and Warren County Drug Task force resulted in agents conducting searches at six locations in Montgomery County Thursday, John Davis, TCSU Public Information Officer told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell.

“We hit six locations here in Montgomery County, relatively simultaneously, as much as we could,” Davis said.

The investigation centered around what Davis called a “substantial marijuana operation.” Investigators believe the marijuana is being brought into the area from out of the state for distribution across southwest Ohio, Davis said.

In addition to officers from TCSU and Warren County, state troopers, Dayton police, Riverside police, Kettering police, Greene County ACE Task Force and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office were all involved in the searches Thursday.

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“So this is a big operation. We had a lot of scenes to control and a lot of work to do. And it could not have been done without the collaboration we’ve had. Its been great,” Davis said.

News Center 7 crews caught TCSU and other agents at two of the six locations, including a house near Shroyer Road in Kettering and at a tattoo shop near the intersection of Patterson Road and Shroyer Road in Dayton.

Davis confirmed a third location was a storage unit, however the location was not disclosed.

No arrests were made or were expected to be made in the searches today, Davis said. Thursday’s operation was designed to collect evidence to further support the ongoing investigation, Davis said.

“We’re looking for anything that’s going to support the investigation that we’ve already conducted. That’s the purpose of these search warrants is to bolster that and lead us in other directions as well,” Davis said.

“We fully expect that this is going to continue. As I said before this is the culmination of six months of investigating and it will continue from there.”

Davis added arrests and charges are expected in the near future, however investigators are still working on getting to that point.

“A lot of information gathering, a lot of documenting. We have a long day ahead of us,” Davis said.

We’ll continue to update this story as we learn more.

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PHOTOS: 6 locations raided as part of investigation into 'substantial' drug operation in Montgomery County Kettering house near Shroyer Road (Mike Campbell/Staff)

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