PHILADELPHIA — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today provided an update on the major drug seizure and operation that took place Friday in the Summerdale section of Northeast Philadelphia, where Office of Attorney General agents and Philadelphia police arrested 9 suspects and seized large quantities of narcotics suspected to be heroin.
Agents are still assessing the large cache of drugs, and their estimate is between 30,000 and 40,000 bags of suspected heroin, as well as between three and four kilograms of unbagged narcotics, with a street value of $1.5 Million.
When agents and officers executed a search warrant at 1118 Rosalie Street Friday morning, they found thousands of bags of drugs. The raid resulted in the arrest of 9 men found throughout the house.
Four Philadelphia police officers and an agent of the Office of Attorney General were exposed to drug powder in the house, experienced physical reactions, and were administered Narcan. All of the law enforcement officers are doing well today.
For much of yesterday, the raided house was cordoned off, along with several blocks nearby as a precaution in the event the drugs were contaminating the air. That cordon has been ended, and the house was sealed last night by the city’s Licenses & Inspections Department.
The Pennsylvania State Police’s Chem Lab is in the process of testing the drugs to identify precisely what narcotics were seized.
The 9 suspects apprehended are from the Dominican Republic. All are in custody in Philadelphia and are being arraigned on various charges relating to the drug operation the agents and police shut down.
Attorney General Shapiro commended the collaboration between agents with the Office of Attorney General, Philadelphia police, and the Pennsylvania State Police. “Our agents, working with Philadelphia police and the Pennsylvania State Police, got these drug dealers out of Summerdale and took the necessary steps to restore public safety to that neighborhood yesterday,” Attorney General Shapiro said.
“As I told the neighbors in Summerdale last night, drug dealing is not a victimless crime,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “We hear them, we know what they’re going through, and we’ll work around the clock to get the people peddling these poisons out of their community.”
Since taking office in January, Attorney General Shapiro’s office has:
- Arrested 844 drug dealers – an average of three per day –across Pennsylvania.
- Doubled the number of medical diversion arrests from 2016.
- Partnered with law enforcement to destroy more than 29 tons of drugs.
- Distributed 300,000 drug disposal pouches in 17 counties in Pennsylvania.
- Worked with the insurance industry to expand access to drug treatment.
