Oakland County narcotics officers arrest man from Netflix series on suspicion of drug trafficking

Netflix documentary series 'Dope' focuses on drug trade

Ryan Zettell (WDIV)

PONTIAC, Mich. – Detectives with the Oakland County Narcotic Enforcement Team arrested Ryan James Zettell Tuesday on suspicion of drug trafficking throughout the county and surrounding communities.

According to authorities, Zettell, 21, goes by the street name "Ozone."

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Authorities started the investigation into Zettell in last July when they received a tip identifying Zettell as a Troy-area drug trafficker. The tip also indicated Zettell was featured in the Netflix documentary series "Dope" in an episode focused on Metro Detroit.

Police said they were able to conduct undercover buys and surveillance of Zettell and arranged many purchases of both cocaine and MDMA. The team secured search warrants for two locations where they had witnessed Zettell conduct illegal activities.

During the arrest of Zettell, authorities recovered a backpack containing digital scales, 62 acid tabs, 29 grams of Molly, a gram of cocaine and a laptop, police said. At one of the search warrant locations, a Kimber .45-caliber semi-automatic weapon was recovered, as well as 1 gram of cocaine, and $7,195 in U.S. currency. 

Zettell was interviewed by Detectives where he admitted to being on the Netflix series. 

Zettell has been charged with six counts of delivering or manufacturing a controlled substance. 

He is expected to return to court Feb. 14.