2 Ohio narcotics officers arrested for trafficking more than 7 kilos (15 1/2 pounds) of fentanyl

[left-of-center2012]

Two police officers in Columbus, Ohio were arrested by federal agents this week, accused of trafficking deadly opioid fentanyl. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Ohio, 44-year-old Marco R. Merino and 33-year-old John J. Kotchkoski were part of the Columbus Police Department’s “drug cartel unit.”

The pair is accused of involvement in the distribution of approximately seven and a half kilograms (15½ pounds) of fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Merino is also accused of accepting bribes to protect the transportation of cocaine.

Citing the affidavit filed against the two men, the U.S. Attorneys Office said Merino tried to recruit a confidential informant to traffic the drugs with him. He is accused of promising law enforcement protection to the person and said he could intervene if other law enforcement attempted to investigate the informant.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant told the Dispatch that both officers were relieved of duty, pending the outcome of the case. She went on to say that the allegations did not reflect the values of the division and that when her officers do wrong, they would be held accountable. “These allegations are beyond disturbing,” Bryant said to the Dispatch. “If proven, such actions would violate the oath our officers take, the standards we must hold ourselves to, and the trust of the public.”

The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 also responded to the allegations, saying that if the allegations are true, the officers have no place in the union or police division, the Dispatch reported.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/10/2-ohio-narcotics-officers-arrested-for-trafficking-more-than-7-kilos-of-fentanyl-officials.html

Marco R. Merino (Left) and John Kotchkoski (Right)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. PrOtEcTiNg AnD sErViNg

[WA-03 Democrat]

2. This is not the whole story

Between meathead one and meathead two - there’s got to be more drugs. These are the same exact pictures they use in the dictionary for “steroid abuse.”

Legalize Heroin

[left-of-center2012]

5. "These are the same exact pictures they use in the dictionary for "steroid abuse."

No, it's their mugshots.

[WA-03 Democrat]

7. No it is!

Webster’s Dictionary 2019 page 617.

[left-of-center2012]

9. So ... fake news

[WA-03 Democrat]

13. Not in the slightest

Thanks for posting it. I am not surprised and personally feel this is the tip of the corruption not just in Ohio but across the rest of the country.

I just think they look like master level steroids users.

[marble falls]

3. If the FOP says "if they are found guilty", kinda says to me that those two are dirty ...

... I've never heard FOP even suggest a dirty cop might be guilty before.

[ZonkerHarris]

15. That jumped out at me too. They're done.

[marble falls]

16. The FOP always was sort of a mob's lawyer. Cops were the sole client, sorta like the Corleone ...

... family and Paul Hagen.

It might be a sea-change right in front of our eyes, ooooor it maybe these two didn't play well with others.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. It Was Tom Hagen

Not Paul. Remember the line in GF2? "You're out, Tom!"
I'm a Godfather nut!
I'm Sicilian, so I'm legally required to be.
I even have to translate for my wife when we watch it, because she likes it better than reading subtitles.

[marble falls]

20. The crazy part is I know that. I have no idea where Paul came from. I remember typing Tom ...

aging for me has not been graceful.

[blueinredohio]

4. What? Dirty cops in Ohio? Who would have thought it?

[Act_of_Reparation]

6. Is there some kind of rule in the FOP handbook stipulating...

...that in order to be a member, one must look like a thumb?

[Wounded Bear]

8. Been hearing since the 60's...narcs always have the best drugs...

[MineralMan]

11. Indeed. The temptation of seized drugs is just too strong for some cops.

I remember working for a county in California back in the 1970s. I serviced sheriff's department vehicles. While I was at that job, a big pile of Thai Stick weed was seized from a small craft in that county. Somehow, it all disappeared from the evidence storage area at the local sheriff's department. Nobody could ever quite figure out how that happened. About six months later, a couple of undercover narcs quit and moved out of the country. No arrests, and the original perps had to be released because the evidence was no longer available.

I figured at the time that it was those two narcs who "unseized" the weed and peddled it on a wholesale basis to "people known to them." They always had seemed off, somehow, to me. When they quit and scarpered, I knew I was right. But what did I know? I mean, I was just a county grease monkey, after all.

Here's a link from that time period to a major case in court:

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1832193.html

[ck4829]

10. Whenever you hear one of these drug busts, you usually hear "enough fentanyl to kill x people"

And it’s a high number.

In fact…
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215638428
https://www.democraticunderground.com/11703263
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100212422187

If the statistics hold up, they were busted with enough fentanyl to kill 3.5 million people.

Feels lacking without that tidbit.

[left-of-center2012]

12. "Feels lacking without that tidbit"

I encourage you to write the author of the article:

[e-mail]

[marble falls]

21. Their valuation of the siezed stashes alway seemed very high retail.

[BlueIdaho]

14. A pair of stone cold killers. nt

[twin_ghost]

17. The money that a person can make selling drugs is too temptying for everyone involved.

These are two men making about $50k per year and they can make millions selling the drugs they find.

[Progressive Jones]

18. I hate crooked pigs with a passion. nt