Meth Trafficker Heads To Prison For Distributing In Montco, Philly

NORRISTOWN, PA — A man who county prosecutors said was a significant source of methamphetamine in the greater Philly region was recently ordered to report to prison to begin serving a sentence in connection with a drug trafficking conviction.

Zuriel Ahki Love, 27, of Philadelphia, began serving out a 7-and-on-half to 15-year sentence in a state correctional institution for his role in distributing large amounts of meth across Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties.

Court records show that Love was sent to a state prison in late September, the punishment coming after he pleaded guilty this summer before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Risa Vetri Ferman to a felony drug charge of manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Other drug-related felony and misdemeanor counts had been dismissed as part of Love's plea agreement, records show.

Last November, NorthPennNow reported that Love was charged after a months-long investigation by Montgomery County detectives looking into claims that the defendant used parcel carrier UPS to ship multiple pounds of methamphetamine from Arizona to a home in Lansdale Borough.

Love, who resided in Philadelphia, was surveilled by investigators in both the city and in Montgomery County.

Investigators ultimately determined that Love had traveled to Arizona in August 2021, shipped two packages to the Philadelphia region, and then returned home to the east coast where he would retrieve the packages, according to the NorthPennNow report, which cited a police criminal complaint.

A search warrant executed on Love's vehicle subsequently uncovered the drug shipment.

Prosecutors ultimately charged Love with possessing about 10 pounds worth of meth to be distributed throughout the Montgomery County region.

"He was a significant source of methamphetamine in this area," Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Mills was quoted as saying in the Mercury newspaper.

A story in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette from December 2016 said that Love has previously been sentenced in federal court to six years in prison in connection with heroin distribution.

The article stated that Love, who was formerly part of something called the "Tat-Gang," received the 72-month federal prison sentence in the Middle District of Pennsylvania after Love pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

That story says that Love had apologized to the court during that sentencing proceeding, saying he was planning to turn his life around after his eventual release from federal prison.

Records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons show that Love was released from prison in that prior case back in March 2019.

Media reports show that Love had previously been an honors student in school, having grown up in Philly but eventually moving in with his grandmother in suburban Montgomery County.

Those reports say that despite having great potential, Love ended up meeting other individuals with whom he would eventually conspire to sell drugs in various parts of Pennsylvania.

Reports state that Love was given four years of supervised release after he left federal prison in 2019, meaning he appears to have been under court supervision at the time he was charged in the Montgomery County case last year.