The saga of the Third World Mob, a drug trafficking gang that flooded Ohio with marijuana and spread violence across Columbus, has reached a new chapter with the sentencing of one of its key players. Teddy Asefa, a 37-year-old Columbus resident and gang member, will spend 17.5 years in prison, a decision that was announced today by federal court officials. Asefa's sentencing comes after pleading guilty in August 2024 to drug trafficking and committing wire fraud.
With an operation that sold at least 500 pounds of pot per month for seven years, Third World Mob profited immensely, to the tune of at least $94 million by conservative estimates. According to court documents obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice, members of 3WM resorted to renting U-Haul trucks and using rental cars to transport the drugs from powerhouses such as California and Georgia into the heart of central Ohio. Additionally, these criminals employed an assortment of residential properties, leased under false names, as hubs—sometimes termed "stash" or "trap houses"—for their operations.
The group's methodology was grim and straightforward: enforce their drug-dealing enterprise with violence and the threat thereof. Court records reveal that disputes within and around the gang were met with death—whether over financial debts or botched deals, the result was the same: murders at the hands of the gang. Instances like the accumulation of nearly one million dollars in a suitcase, or cold-blooded killings on Reeb and 12th Avenue, showcase the grit and the brutality of their reign.
Beyond the sales of drugs, Asefa and his accomplices further supplemented their ill-gotten gains through fraudulent means, seizing at least $16,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the guise of legitimate employment. The sentence handed down to Asefa follows the precedent set by the incarceration of fellow gang members, including Menelik Solomon and Abubakarr Savage, the former receiving more than 15 years while Savage received a similar sentence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s report.
This multi-year investigation and the subsequent legal actions are the result of collaborations between various agencies, with commendations from U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II of the Southern District of Ohio for the help from the Columbus, Whitehall, and Tucson police departments, as well as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The case against Asefa and fellow gang members was spearheaded by assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth A. Geraghty and S. Courter Shimeall.
