US busts 60 in drug, gun trafficking sting

US authorities have busted a large-scale drug and gun trafficking operation and indicted 60 people in the midwestern state of Ohio, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

US attorney Steven Dettelbach said in a statement that 26 people had been indicted on federal charges following a year-long undercover sting operation in a sporting goods store in Mansfield, Ohio.

The Justice Department said another 34 were indicted on state drug trafficking charges in Ohio's Richland County, in connection with the case.

It said police had seized 70 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, 1,316 grams of cocaine, 768 grams of crack cocaine, 1,099 Oxycodone pills, 215 ecstasy pills, 199 Vicodin pills, five grams of heroin and 36 Aprazolam pills.

Undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had worked in the store, which sold athletic apparel, but had also expressed interest in buying illegal drugs and firearms.

"This undercover operation was strategically targeted at felons and violent criminals who flooded Mansfield with prescription drugs, illegal narcotics and illegal firearms," Dettelbach said.

"This investigation will shut off a significant pipeline of illegal firearms and drugs."

The indictments include 121 separate criminal charges. They were returned last Wednesday but only unsealed Tuesday, the Justice Department said, adding that federal and local agents spent the morning arresting suspects.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.