About 100 arrests made; one dozen firearms seized, along with fentanyl and other narcotics, during two-month operation
NORRISTOWN — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announce the results of “Operation Clean Sweep” — a targeted law enforcement collaboration that interdicted drug trafficking from Philadelphia to outlying counties.
During the two-phase operation in September and October, law enforcement arrested about 100 individuals, and seized 12 illegal firearms, along with quantities of fentanyl/heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine/crack cocaine, PCP, oxycodone, suboxone, Xanax, psilocybin mushrooms, codeine, and marijuana.
The street value of the narcotics is estimated to be more than $365,000.
The strategic objective of the operation was to bring together numerous law enforcement resources from the Office of Attorney General; Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery county detective bureaus; Pennsylvania State Police and Philadelphia Police Department to target the flow of illegal controlled substances from known drug trafficking areas in Philadelphia, primarily Kensington, to the three collar counties.
“The Operation Clean Sweep collaboration will make communities safer with arrests of dozens of drug traffickers and seizures of firearms and deadly poisons that are not contained by municipal borders,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “I am proud of my staff and our partners who employed sophisticated investigative tactics to close major trafficking pipelines between Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.”
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the drug trafficking problem was a shared problem. “For too long, Philadelphia has been the epicenter for the supply of dangerous drugs, but we recognize that the counties surrounding Philadelphia — Montgomery, Bucks and Delaware counties—are also part of the problem,” Montgomery County District Attorney Steele said. “Drug traffickers and addicted individuals don’t recognize geographic, county boundaries when they get fentanyl, cocaine and other illegal drugs and then transport them into the counties to sell or use. All of law enforcement worked hand-in-hand on this multi-faceted operation to interrupt that flow of illegal drugs and to hold people accountable for this criminal behavior.”
The Montgomery County Overdose Response Team (MCORT) also worked with law enforcement during Operation Clean Sweep to encourage addicted individuals who were not trafficking quantities of drugs to get help, with some success.
“This coordinated drug interdiction, targeting drug traffickers in Philadelphia and the collar counties, is a game changer. When we stand united in an endeavor like this, we are taking a stand against drug traffickers who are transporting and delivering poisonous drugs into our counties and into the hands of our loved ones,” Bucks County District Attorney Jen Schorn said. “This initiative embodies the principle that we are stronger when we work together. Drug manufacturers and traffickers should be on notice that we will not relent.”
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer also noted the strength in cooperation. “In law enforcement, we know that agency collaboration is a force multiplier. I’m thankful for my colleagues DAs Steele and Schorn, as well as Attorney General Sunday and the Philadelphia Police Department, for the incredible collaboration that made ‘Operation Clean Sweep’ a success.”
In all, Operation Clean Sweep involved collaboration between: the Pennsylvania’s Office of the Attorney General Criminal Investigations Unit, Montgomery County Detective Bureau, Bucks County Detective Bureau, Delaware County Detective Bureau, Pennsylvania State Police, Philadelphia Police Department, and police departments including Abington Township, Bensalem, Cheltenham Township, Lower Merion Township, Lower Moreland Township, Lower Southampton, Nether Providence, Springfield Township, Upper Darby, Upper Merion Township, Upper Moreland Township, and Whitemarsh Township.
Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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