U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Detroit Field Division conducted a multi-jurisdictional sweep in May, June and July that resulted in 619 arrests in eight cities throughout northern Ohio.
Officers cleared 684 warrants for individuals wanted for assault, illegal drugs, firearms, homicide, human trafficking, manslaughter, robbery, and sex offenses. Twenty-nine people are suspected gang members. Approximately 264 of the arrests were from surges into individual cities while 355 were from other areas across the district.
Operation Northern Shield was coordinated among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and task forces as part of an initiative to combat violent crime and had been in the planning stages for months. The goal was to target and apprehend violent fugitives in Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Elyria, Lorain, Mansfield, Toledo and Youngstown.
In addition to the arrests, officers seized one inert grenade, two sets of ballistic body armor, two suppressors, two machine gun conversion devices, six pounds of marijuana, 198 firearms, 1.317 kilograms of narcotics and $120,200.
Among the arrested are Clevelanders Sidney Booty, Marcus Brown and Terence Montgomery. Booty allegedly found possessing an illegal firearm and methamphetamine which he intended to distribute and sell. Brown and Montgomery face drug conspiracy and racketeering charges.