Swissvale Barber Busted For Selling Crack Outside Shop
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Brian Torrey Smith, a 26-year-old from Penn Hills, had nothing to say as Swissvale Police took him downtown to the Allegheny County Jail on Thursday.
Smith was employed at the Cut and Play Barber Shop on Washington Street. There's a sign in the window that reads no drugs, or guns permitted.
He was picked up Thursday on a warrant after several undercover drug buys were made.
According to Swissvale police, Smith was selling crack cocaine in between giving haircuts. Along with Smith's regular job, he was allegedly selling crack on the side.
"He was moving from his job inside the shop," an undercover officer explained. "He would come out, make moves, and then go back inside."
The undercover Swissvale detective said police had been keeping the barber shop under surveillance for months.
"We started receiving complaints over a year ago regarding activity at this particular location," he said. "We followed it up, and eventually identified a target who was operating out of the barber shop."
According to detectives, the investigation is ongoing and there may be other individuals and locations that may be involved in a larger conspiracy. The surveillance, they say, is continuing.
The owner of the barber shop told KDKA-TV News that Smith was a registered Pennsylvania student barber. He said as far as he aware, Smith did not sell any drugs inside his shop.