$3.7M Of ‘Highly Sophisticated’ New Meth Trafficked In PA: Officials

NORRISTOWN — A drug trafficking ring selling 800 pounds of a new brand of crystal meth, with a street value of up to $3.7 million, has been dismantled, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele reported Tuesday.

“We are not talking about the kind of cheap methamphetamine that was produced in bathtubs by bikers,” Steele said, when announcing the arrests today during a press conference in a grand jury room at One Montgomery Plaza. “This drug is made in Mexico in highly sophisticated laboratories.”

Steele said the new meth is being produced by Mexican cartels and is becoming more popular than fentanyl.

“The investigation resulting in these five arrests shut off a significant pipeline for methamphetamine to the entire southeastern Pennsylvania region, and our communities are safer for it,” Steele said.

The top prosecutor anticipates the number of meth arrests will rise. He said there is no quick cure for methamphetamine overdoses like Naloxone that is used to reverse an opioid overdose.

Investigators said the drug was shipped from Los Angeles to drug leaders in the Philadelphia region.

Five suspects are in Montgomery County Correctional Facility facing 100 counts each of participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, possessing with intent to deliver methamphetamine and related charges.

The alleged supplier Ricky Evans, 28, of Los Angeles was extradited to Montgomery County on Sunday and was arraigned before District Judge Edward Levine and imprisoned in lieu of $3 million bail.
Four additional suspects were arraigned on March 16 before District Judge Maurice H. Saylor.

They are:

• Tyrone Baker, 29, East Lansdowne, Delaware County, in lieu of $3 million bail;
• Jhamir Winans 21, Philadelphia, in lieu of $3 million bail;
• Shakeen Johnson, 27, Exton, Chester County; in lieu of $1 million bail; and
• Joshua Quiles, 31, King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, in lieu of $1 million bail.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said that the methamphetamine seen today is poison. He thanked Steele for great work in putting this case together.

The case

The law enforcment investigation into the drug trafficking ring began in March 2021 when Chase Smith, 21, of Upper Darby, Delaware County, was arrested after he sold two pounds of methamphetamine to an undercover officer in the Bala Cynwyd neighborhood of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County.

Subsequently, investigators learned that Smith was part of a larger operation.

A police investigation was launched using surveillance, search warrants, and court orders for phone records, GPS pings, and wiretaps.

The probe revealed that Evans was shipping large quantities of the drug to the four co-defendants through the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx.

Money was exchanged using cellphone apps.

At the same time, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security also launched an investigation into the same illegal operation.

The postal service investigation revealed that 91 packages shipped between October 2019 to December 2021 matched the same pattern as the police investigation disclosed.

“We don’t have to look hard to see the destruction illegal drugs have on our communities,” Damon Wood, postal inspector agent, said at the press conference.

William Walker, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security, said deadly drugs like those seized in this investigation destroy lives and ravage communities.

“The dismantling of this organization was only possible through the extraordinary collaboration between law enforcement agencies," Wood said.

Search Warrants

At the conclusion of the probes, search warrants were issued in Montgomery, Chester Delaware, and Philadelphia counties, and Camden, N.J., Clarksburg, W. Va., and Los Angeles, Calif.

Police with those warrants seized a total of 83 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 200 baggies of fentanyl, oxycodone, and marijuana.

They also seized 17 handguns, eight long-gun rifles, a ballistic vest and $135,000.

The investigation was led by Montgomery County Detective Bureau in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigation.

Also assisting were Delaware County Criminal Investigations, Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Southeast Strike Force, Drug Enforcement Agency - Group 32 Philadelphia Division, and Group 2 Los Angeles Division.

In addition, participating were police from Lower Merion, Upper Merion, Upper Darby and Philadelphia police departments, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, Camden County police department, and the Harrison County, W. Va. taskforce.

Jeremiah Daley, executive director of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area, which also participated in the probe, said the sophistication in drug trafficking makes investigating and dismantling them more challenging.

The Liberty Mid-Atlantic High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area is a law enforcement agency focusing on reducing drug trafficking and violent crime in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

“The multi-agency investigation is an example of how the partnership among local, state, and federal law enforcement can identify, investigate and disrupt the flow of drugs across state and county lines,” he said.