Investigation into cartel quality meth in central Pennsylvania leads to charges against more than 50 people
CARLISLE, Pa. (KDKA) — More than 50 people have been charged after investigators say high-quality meth started popping up in central Pennsylvania.
The Cumberland County district attorney said 24 people have already been arrested and authorities are serving 31 arrest warrants on Wednesday in connection with "Operation: Speed Bump," which began after the emergence of meth that wasn't consistent with locally produced product.
The operation resulted in more than two dozen search warrants, leading to the seizure of 17 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 316 grams of crack/cocaine and 9 grams of heroin/fentanyl.
McCormack said the operation was launched in January after the county started seeing an increase in overdoses. The quality of meth also raised concerns. McCormack said it wasn't consistent with the quality of meth from "home cooks." Detectives said the quality of the methamphetamine seized is consistent with what's produced by cartels in Mexico and smuggled into the United States.
The Cumberland County Drug Task Force fanned out across the county and into nearby Dauphin County to make the arrests. Comprised of officers from several police departments, McCormack said the multi-jurisdictional task force is a model for conducting investigations that cross county lines.
"No one department in Cumberland County has the resources to properly conduct investigations of this nature," McCormack said in a press release. "Drug dealers do not respect jurisdictional boundaries; therefore, we cannot have our investigations dictated by those boundaries. Just as we did today, we partnered with law enforcement agencies and the US Marshalls across the river to assist us in arresting individuals from Dauphin County who frequently come across the river to prey upon Cumberland County residents."