Pennsylvania Attorney General Announces Major Drug Bust

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro recently announced that the state is filing criminal charges against 49 people accused of either selling or possessing heroin and an assortment of other illegal drugs in Blair County.

The charges came about through a cooperative investigation from the Office of the Attorney General, the Blair County Drug Task Force, the Blair County District Attorney’s Office, the Altoona Police Department and various other state and local agencies. Officers focused on the sale of heroin and prescription drugs, along with drugs like LSD, methadone and suboxone.

Of the people charged on April 13, 34 were arrested within the first 24 hours, with more expected to follow in the days afterward.

State cracks down on drug crimes

This bust was just the latest in a series of successful operations by various law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Police have been cracking down on the sale and distribution of illegal drugs as overdose deaths reach all-time highs in Pennsylvania.

Another operation in early April resulted in criminal charges being filed against 15 people who operated a large-scale heroin distribution network between Altoona and New York City. Police quickly arrested 12 of those 15 offenders. That scheme allegedly involved $5 million worth of heroin (about 750,000 bags) being transported between the two cities in 2015 and 2016.

As these recent crackdowns indicate, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors take drug crimes very seriously in the state of Pennsylvania. If you find yourself facing drug charges, you do have options to protect your constitutional rights. To learn more, speak with dedicated Reading criminal defense attorney David R. Eshelman.