Berks, Montgomery authorities announce breakup of multimillion-dollar drug ring

Dec. 1—A multimillion-dollar drug ring that was headed by a federal prison inmate and shipped huge quantities of cocaine and fentanyl through the mail from Mexico to Berks and Montgomery counties by way of Puerto Rico has been dismantled, local authorities announced Thursday.

Seventeen of the 27 defendants charged as a result of the multiagency investigation, dubbed "Operation Snowball," have been arrested and drugs with a street value of $4.3 million were seized, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams and Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a joint press conference at the Berks County Services Center.

The trafficking ring operated primarily in Berks — most of the defendants reside in Reading — but the investigation began in July when Montgomery County detectives learned a Norristown man was being supplied with bulk quantities of illegal drugs by an organization with ties to Reading, Adams said.

Montgomery detectives teamed with Berks detectives to identify the source of the supply and discovered the suspected drug ring had ties to people under investigation by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, officials said.

They said postal service investigators discovered parcels of cocaine and fentanyl were being shipped via priority express mail from Mexico to Reading by way of Puerto Rico.

Because of the scope of the investigation, detectives from Chester and Bucks counties joined the investigation along with Reading police, state police criminal investigators, and federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.

The combined law enforcement team used all investigative means at its disposal, including intercepting electronic communications of a person of interest, officials said.

Adams indicated that person was Carlos Lopez Rosado, a 46-year-old inmate at the Federal Correctional Institute Schuylkill in Minersville, Schuylkill County. Lopez Rosado communicated with his lieutenants on the outside via a smuggled cellphone, the DA said.

Steele said he believes authorities have severed a significant pipeline of illegal drugs including fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that drug dealers often cut into various street drugs. Fentanyl has been blamed for the majority of accidental overdoses in recent years.

He said the drugs seized in the investigation had a potential value of $4.3 million if packaged and sold on the street. He said that is astounding considering there were probably a lot more drugs that flowed through the network that authorities weren't able to intercept.

"This was a significant drug-trafficking operation and was putting thousands of doses of fentanyl on the street every day and putting thousands of doses of cocaine on the street every day," Steele said.

He said those charged are among the top suppliers of illegal drugs to the region and have contributed to the ongoing opioid-addiction crisis.

"These defendants were a very successful drug-trafficking operations — until now," he said. "They have learned some lessons that law enforcement will use every means at our disposal, and that we're committed to working together to take down and dismantle drug-trafficking operations that are poisoning and killing our loved ones, our sons, our daughters, our mothers, our fathers, our neighbors, our friends. And it is all ages and backgrounds, and it's throughout Montgomery, it's throughout Berks, it's throughout Chester and Bucks and Lancaster and all counties throughout our region."

Adams said the cases will be prosecuted in Berks.

Adams also lauded the collaborate effort of district attorneys and detectives from multiple counties.

"I am so proud of the teamwork and the fact that we have taken and will take all 27 of these drug dealers and put them where they belong — in jail," Adams said. "It took a lot of work by our partners here today to take down this organization."

Investigators said two undercover officers infiltrated the trafficking organization

Additionally, numerous parcels destined for residences in Reading were intercepted by USPS inspectors. These parcels were searched, and numerous kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl were discovered and seized.

On Nov. 3 and 4, investigators obtained search warrants for nine Reading homes, one in Norristown and another in the city of Lancaster. Nine of the 27 defendants were arrested then.

As a result of the investigation, authorities said they seized:

—About 55 pounds of cocaine with a bulk value of $770,000 and worth up to $2.7 million if packaged for street sales.

—About 12 pounds of fentanyl with a bulk value of $203,000 that could produce up to $1.6 million in street sales.

—Six handguns and four drum-style gun magazines.

—$60,000 believed to be the proceeds of illegal drug sales.

—40 cellphones.

—Large amounts of processing and packaging materials related to heroin and cocaine distribution.

Those arrested in Thursday's roundup were taken to the Berks sheriff's central processing unit, where they were awaiting arraignment. Those previously arrested are being held in the Berks prison awaiting hearings.

Besides Lopez Rosado, the following defendants from Reading were in custody as of Thursday afternoon:

—Jessica Lopez-Albino, 37, of the first 1600 block Perkiomen Avenue;

—Julio Echevarria-Estremera, 30, of the first block Hancock Boulevard;

—Edwin Malave, 55, of the 500 block Minor Street;

—Jeremy Morales, 30, of the first block Culvert Street;

—Roddy Sanchez-Martinez, 28, of the 1300 block Avenue C;

—Omar Colon-Cruz, 45, of the 500 block Minor Street;

—Idris Williams, 44, of the 1300 block Good Street;

—Andre Malave, 38, of the 500 block Minor Street;

—Christian Arroyo-Rivera, 21, of the 800 block North 10th Street;

—Arnold Felix-Castro, 30, of the 300 block South 13th Street;

—Raquel Rivera-Maldonado, 45, of the 300 block North 12th Street;

—Jose Escobar-Camacho, 39, of the 300 block North 12th Street.

From Montgomery County:

—Victor Rodriguez, 55, of the 400 block Arch Street, Norristown;

—Milton Hernandez-Ferrer, 72, of the 500 block East High Street, Pottstown.

From Lancaster:

—Alex R. Valentin Rios, 32, of the 500 block of Duke Street.

All are all charged with possessing and intending to deliver controlled substances, conspiracy and related counts.