Three men suspected in running a drug operation were each ordered held under $500,000 bond onFriday.
Investigators said Cristian Garcia, Omar Jiminez and Ricardo Rodriguez were the ringleaders ofthe operation that originated from Don Patron Restaurant.
They were arrested and charged with felony drug trafficking on Thursday after police said theysold $75,000 worth of cocaine to undercover officers.
SLIDESHOW: Images From Scene
The restaurant, located at 9765 Johnstown Rd. in New Albany, was immediately closed afterseveral other employees were arrested inside the business, 10TV's Cara Connelly reported.
Eight men, all Mexican nationals, were in custody, according to Immigration and CustomsEnforcement. Their ages ranged from 21 to 45 years old. All were in the U.S. illegallyand will be deported, Connelly reported.
Police said the arrests were the culmination of a five-month undercover investigation.
10TV News cameras shot video of employees being rounded up with a drug-sniffing dog circlingvehicles parked outside the restaurant.
New Albany police Chief Mark Chaney said that the drug arrests were unprecedented in hiscommunity but said no one is immune to the drug trade.
"When you're bringing in street drugs worth $75,000, you're bringing in quite a quantity,"Chaney said. "When we started getting further into this investigation, we started figuringout that's not the end of the story and that there were large quantities being brought in throughthe business."
According to Chaney, the police investigation started after a tip came from someone whosuspected something illegal was taking place.
"Most investigations starts off by community involvement and community tips, and this is exactlywhat happened," said New Albany Police Sgt. Mark Anderson. "We had a phone call and someonewho came into our custody actually informed us of some of the illegal activities that were takingplace at the restaurant."
Police said that it was not known whether the restaurant would reopen.
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