It is being described as one of the biggest drug busts in New Jersey over the last decade – “Operation on the Ropes” resulted in 24 arrests.

Monmouth County authorities say that the yearlong investigation seized 21,000 pieces of candy infused with THC, 1,100 pounds of marijuana and over 6,000 flavored THC vape cartridges – all with an estimated street value of $1.9 million.

County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni says that the 24 people arrested are from New Jersey and New York. A suspect from California is still at large, but police expect to arrest him soon. Gramiccioni says that the suspects trafficking the drugs used a warehouse on Park Avenue in Manalapan and a hangar at Monmouth Executive Airport as production and storage facilities.

And even with the possibility of marijuana and THC products becoming legal in New Jersey within the next year, the prosecutor says that busts like this won’t stop.

“Unfortunately, we are always going to see a black market effort to try to profit off of that and that black market effort cuts into the legitimacy in the retail profits of a place where it might be legal,” Gramiccioni says.

Officials say that 36 law enforcement agencies took part in the investigation. They say that the primary goal is to keep these types of products away from children.