6 Charged In Reading-Based Methamphetamine Ring

English: Crystal methamphetamine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN, PA – Six men have been charged as part of a Reading-based drug ring that sold bulk amounts of crystal methamphetamine in Berks and Montgomery counties as it tried to stir up local demand for the drug, officials announced today.

Operation Breaking Bad, as it was named by law enforcement, was a 10-month multi-agency investigation that broke up the high-level meth and cocaine trafficking ring, Berks District Attorney John T. Adams and Montgomery District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said during a press conference here.

The six men charged were all Mexican nationals living in the U.S. illegally, five of whom were deported, then returned illegally, Adams said.

They were arraigned today and are in Montgomery County Prison awaiting further court action.

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Hispanics In Berks County Double Since 2000

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

Ibrain Marquez-Pacheco knows exactly why he came to Reading: the low cost of living.

“He’s seen that poor people can survive here,” said Luz Mendez, who was translating on Thursday for the 73-year-old man originally from Cuba. “For him, this is like any other city he can go to, but here he can live and survive.”

Marquez-Pacheco was one of several hundred Hispanics who were having their daily lunch at the Daniel Torres Hispanic Center’s senior center at Fifth and Washington streets, where Mendez is a case manager.

Marquez-Pacheco is also one of tens of thousands of Hispanics who came to Berks since the 2000 Census.

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