AG’s Office Busts Alleged Steroid, Prescription Pill Rings

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — Correctional officers, a pharmacist technician and a recently-released Dallas Cowboys guard were among the Luzerne County residents charged Wednesday in connection with two alleged anabolic steroid rings.

A state Attorney General’s Office investigation dubbed “Operation Gym Candy” led to the arrest of 13 suspects from five Northeast Pennsylvania counties who are alleged to have participated in the distribution of steroids and prescription drugs.

All suspects were released on varying amounts of bail, ranging from $1,000 to $50,000.

According to court papers, Brian Laubach, 36, of Berwick, and Richard Piccarreta, 49, of Plymouth, each ran respective anabolic steroid manufacturing and sales operations, working alongside others to distribute the Schedule III substances to customers locally and through the Internet.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/50413107/Alleged-drug-rings-busted

44 Arrested In Brazen Heroin-Dealing Network In Monroeville

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Federal officials today announced charges against 44 people — all but one from Western Pennsylvania — who are accused of involvement in a heroin-dealing network that called itself “Bricks-R-Us” and even wore drug-themed T-shirts.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton said the crew worked the parking lots and bathrooms along the commercial district on Business Route 22 in Monroeville, sometimes wearing T-shirts featuring the motto “100 Bricks at a Time.” Brick is a slang term for a large quantity of heroin.

“They brazenly conducted most of their drug trafficking in the Monroeville business district,” said Mr. Hickton. “As of today, they are on the run, and headed out of business.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/05/29/Federal-officers-to-announce-arrests-in-major-drug-trafficking-ring/stories/201405290245#ixzz338mxKOOZ

Two Haverford School Graduates Charged With Selling Drugs At Main Line High Schools And Colleges

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two graduates of the Haverford School on the Main Line were arrested Monday after authorities said they led a drug trafficking ring the dealers called “the Main Line takeover project” that targeted local high schools and colleges.

As the name implied, the goal of the dealers was to “take over from existing drug dealers the marijuana business in the Main Line section of Montgomery County,” authorities said.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said that Neil K. Scott, 25, of Haverford, and Timothy C. Brooks, 18, of Villanova, employed high school students at Lower Merion, Harriton, Conestoga, and Radnor High Schools and college students at Haverford, Gettysburg and Lafayette Colleges to be “sub-dealers.”

The ring allegedly also sold cocaine, hash oil and ecstasy to students on the Main Line, police said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140422_Police__Drug_ring_specialized_in_high_schools__colleges.html#3mVqFJ2QWKZ5UwsK.99

Wiretap Yields Major Berks County Drug Bust

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For four months, members of Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams’ drug task force eavesdropped on the cellphone conversations of a Pennside resident and others suspected of selling large quantities of cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the county.

The state Superior Court approved Adams’ application for a nonconsensual wiretap in February to listen to the conversations of Robert Sanfiel, 47.

By that time, Adams said Thursday, the detectives had been investigating Sanfiel for six months, but early on didn’t know the size of the operation.

The investigation culminated early Thursday when investigators began a roundup of 25 people accused of being involved in the organization.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=477562

20 Busted In Drug Ring Allegedly Run From Wayne County Golf Course

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Wayne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  If you would like to see if their face and names, click on the link below to read the rest of the article.

A golf course in Wayne County served as the hub of a trafficking ring that moved more than $1.4 million worth of cocaine from New York City into the hands of area residents, according to the state attorney general’s office.

State narcotics agents on Friday charged 20 people from Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties, including the owner of Red Maples Golf Course, Angelo Pozza, 76, with a host of cocaine-related drug counts.

Over the course of the 2½-year investigation that was eventually nicknamed Operation Penalty Stroke, narcotics agents said they were able to trace the flow of cocaine from the Bronx, N.Y., to Mr. Pozza, who sold the narcotic out of his home on the 136 acre grounds of the nine-hole golf course.

“It’s unique because it’s a golf course, but it’s the same sort of front,” said the state’s prosecutor on the case, Deputy Attorney General Timothy Doherty.

Read more:   http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/20-busted-in-drug-ring-allegedly-run-from-wayne-county-golf-course-1.1448530