13 people indicted in connection with drug trafficking organization in western Pennsylvania
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- More than a dozen people were indicted in connection with a drug trafficking organization operating in western Pennsylvania.
Ten western Pennsylvania residents and three New York residents were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of narcotics trafficking, firearms violations and money laundering, the Department of Justice announced.
Prosecutors said the 13 people named in the 16-count indictment include leaders, members, drug suppliers and associates of an organization accused of trafficking meth, cocaine and heroin. Several residents of Altoona were indicted.
The Drug Enforcement Administration led the multi-agency investigation, which also included the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Services, Pittsburgh police and Pennsylvania State Police.
The prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation, which the Department of Justice says disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations.
Twelve of the defendants face a minimum of 10 years in prison, and one of them faces up to 20 years.