Wilmington Man Charged With $520K Drugs in Chesco

WEST CHESTER —A 29-year-old Wilmington man was arrested Thursday on charges of attempting to sell cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, in Chester County.

Artemio Garcia-Laniz is also accused of possessing an illegal handgun and ammunition in his residence.

Garcia-Laniz is in Chester County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail after being arraigned before District Judge Albert Iacocca in West Goshen Township.

“The defendant’s intent on pushing this poison into our communities will not be tolerated,” District Attorney Deb Ryan said. “His criminal behavior shows he has no regard for human life or the devastating toll this has on our loved ones.”

According to police records:

Garcia-Laniz was arrested after possessing three kilos of cocaine, with a street value of $300,000, in an arrangement with an undercover police informant in Kennett Square.

Police then executed a search warrant of the suspect’s Wilmington residence ,where they seized 600 grams of heroin, 120 grams of crystal meth, 3.8 kilos of THC extract, two pounds of marijuana, $8,228 in cash.

They also seized a black “ghost” handgun with no serial number or manufacturer markings. The gun had a magazine inserted with four 9mm luger rounds of ammunition.

The investigation was conducted by the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force, state police and Kennett Square police.