Authorities say they have taken out an alleged drug ring that smuggled over 400 pounds of marijuana into the city last year, with a street value estimated at over a million dollars.

Seven were arrested in simultaneous late night raids in the city Wednesday night, in which police recovered thousands of dollars in cash, semi-automatic weapons, a Kevlar vest and pounds of marijuana. The raids were the culmination of a six-month investigation by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, Malden Police and US Postal Inspectors.

In total, nine search warrants were served.

The Ring Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone and officers at the conference said the ring was operated by the so-called "Maplewood Group" or "Operation", though the group is also commonly known as the "Maplewood Gang".

Authorities said they suspected the group was involved in interstate drug trafficking, and started a inter-agency investigation last October.

Later that month, postal police said they intercepted a package intended for the organization that contained more than 12 pounds of marijuana. Police said they would later identify 50 such packages en route to the group.

Leone said investigators had also secured wiretap warrants for the investigation. Saturday, postal police reportedly seized another shipment en route to the organization, prompting alleged member Reginald Miller to reportedly break into the home of a neighbor he mistakenly believed had stolen the drugs.