Marijuana Drug Ring: Lakewood Man, Four Others Indicted

LAKEWOOD, OH — Five more men have been indicted for intention to distribute more than 220 pounds of marijuana and 345 pills of Oxycodone in Northeast Ohio, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday. Three men were indicted in January for their role in the alleged drug ring, these five men are all being added to the indictment.

“This group of individuals profited millions of dollars from transporting and selling Oxycodone and marijuana in our community,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony. “They drove fancy cars and utilized an expensive apartment in Chicago to store their illegal narcotics. The FBI applauds the cooperative efforts by all law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation.”

The five men now indicted are Jaber Hammouda, 33, of North Olmsted, Amran Jabir, 30, of Chicago; Ahmad Abukhalil, 37, of Lakewood; Mohamed Mansour, 27, of Olmsted Falls, and Alaa Hassan, 23, of Westlake. Amer Jabir, 27, Ahmad Jabir, 23, and Aymen Abdelrahim, 28, all from Cleveland, were charged in late January 2018.

Between 2015 and 2018, Amer Jabir allegedly transported large quantities of weed from California to Chicago. The marijuana was reportedly hidden in secret trap compartments in vehicles and the vehicles were then placed in car haulers and transported across the country.

Jabir allegedly would then distribute some of the marijuana in Chicago before moving the remaining supply to Cleveland and Detroit, where it was moved to his customers. Some of the drugs were allegedly sold at a gas station on W. 25th Street, the Department of Justice said.

“This case demonstrates how drugs are moved across the country, from California to a gas station on West 25th Street,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “It also exemplifies how drug traffickers use firearms to protect their millions of dollars in drug profits.”

Ahmad Jabir and Abdelrahim are accused of working as Amer's distributors and delivery runners in Cleveland. The FBI said it has records of conversations between the men saying they were selling numerous pounds of marijuana and hundreds of pills at a time. They frequently received thousands of dollars in exchange, the agency said.

The indictment also seeks the forfeit of more than $2.1 million in cash, five firearms, a 2015 Range Rover, a $5,000 casino poker chip and miscellaneous jewelry seized from locations in Cleveland, North Olmsted and Chicago as part of the investigation.

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