Twenty-five dealers are facing charges in Harrisburg after a seven-month sting flooded the streets with heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the arrests Wednesday, marking a major blow to a network that poisoned neighborhoods from Steelton to Susquehanna Township. The suspects, ranging from 21 to 56 years old, are accused of trafficking deadly narcotics while operating in plain sight.
Agents from the Office of Attorney General’s Mobile Street Crimes Unit conducted controlled buys across the region, seizing 9 grams of cocaine, $2,900 in cash, and more than $18,000 overall. They also confiscated 17 firearms and a toxic cocktail of drugs: heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, prescription pills, ecstasy, and crack cocaine. Raids this morning hit two Harrisburg homes—one yielding two arrests and cash, the other uncovering a single suspect and four young children inside a drug den.
The investigation was a joint operation involving Harrisburg Police, Dauphin County DA’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, and multiple local departments including Middletown, Steelton, and Lower Paxton Township. U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and county probation units lent critical support. Attorney General Shapiro personally joined agents on the raids, underscoring the state’s hardline stance against street-level distribution networks.
‘These dealers are peddling heroin and cocaine and infecting the Harrisburg community,’ Shapiro said. ‘They undermine the quality of life in every neighborhood.’ He emphasized that the operation responded directly to pleas from local law enforcement and residents desperate for relief from open-air drug markets and violent crime tied to distribution.
Among those charged: Anton Bland, 41, of Steelton; James Carr, 28; Kurt Cheatham, 36; Shawn Davenport, 30; Matthew Depasquale, 35; Kevin Ellison, 40; Robert Fleming, 32; Eric Henry, 26; Kaseem Ingram, 27; Jaleel Jackson, 21; Bobby Johnson, 39; Anthony Maldonado, 27; Emerson Miller, 31; Tristan Nicholsan, 32; Kevin Payne, 54; James Pierce, 30; Robert Roberts, 54; Jeffrey Simpson, 27; Dwayne Tennant, 56; Orlando Twyford, 55; Lavar Williams, 28; and Corday Willis, 24—all of Harrisburg or nearby towns. Charges include delivery of controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute.
The investigation remains ongoing. Authorities warn that drug activity continues to fuel violence and instability in central Pennsylvania. With fentanyl now a dominant killer on the streets, Shapiro vowed further crackdowns: ‘We heard the community loud and clear—and we’re just getting started.’
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: Pennsylvania AG
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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