OTTUMWA — The seizure warrants in last Friday’s major drug raids give the public a glimpse into what authorities say was a ring involved in cocaine, marijuana and gun sales.

The warrants also give the first confirmation that local authorities knew of the organization’s ties to a violent Chicago street gang.

Authorities accuse William Edwards III of being the organization’s leader; they even name the ring after him in court papers. The affidavit attached to the warrants shows investigators first began looking into the ring’s activities in the summer of 2007 after they suspected Edwards was involved in marijuana and cocaine sales.

What they say they found was that Edwards imported “multi-pound quantities of cocaine from Chicago, Ill., to Wapello County, Iowa,” and used the Plowboy and The Dugout, bars he operated, as distribution centers. Court papers indicate that he was purchasing both locations on contract from their previous owners.

Undercover officers made four cocaine purchases between May 3-27 and another on June 3. The May 27 and June 3 events also included the purchase of handguns.

Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark said he is limited on what he can say about the warrants or the arrests. Some items, like the federal warrants and documents, remain sealed pending court hearings.

Clark would not say whether the purchases made by undercover officers and informants included marijuana in addition to cocaine. Similar restrictions apply to the number of guns involved in the weapons purchases.

“I can’t comment on that,” he said.

William Edwards III allegedly used a ring of sub-dealers as well as direct sales to drug users to distribute the cocaine. That’s where most of the other defendants in the case come in. The court filings accuse James Edwards, Israel Joubert, Jerry Miller, Mario Gadberry, Derek O’Neal, Rafael DeLazaro, Marlon Rust and David Horvath as dealers for the organization.

Miller, the papers said, “does not appear to have a job and his sole source of income appears to be from drug sales.” The same accusation is made against James Edwards.

One of the people arrested Friday is absent from the list. Sandra Piedlow’s name did not show up as a dealer, and it is unclear how authorities believe she is involved in the overall drug organization.

The group’s gang ties are known to Illinois authorities. They identified James and William Edwards and Joubert as gang members. But the affidavits make it clear local investigators had similar information.

“Investigators believe key members ... are directly affiliated with the Hamlin Park faction of the Insane Deuces street gang based in Chicago,” the papers say.

The Web site chicagogangs.org tracks active gangs and their territories in and around Chicago. The site is cited by law enforcement as a good source of information. It says the Insane Deuces originated in the mid-1960s merger of two earlier gangs.

The Insane Deuces maintain a strong presence in the Hamlin Park area of Chicago’s north side and in the suburb of Aurora. The affidavit tied the Ottumwa distribution to the Hamlin Park faction of the gang.