13 Busted in Massive Heroin, Meth Trafficking Ring

HARRISBURG — A sprawling heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine pipeline flooding Elk and Erie counties has been ripped apart by state authorities, with 13 individuals now facing charges in connection with one of the largest drug trafficking takedowns in recent state history. The operation, orchestrated by the Office of Attorney General and the Forty-Sixth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, culminated in coordinated raids and arrests targeting a network responsible for distributing hundreds of thousands of lethal doses.

At the center of the investigation are Thomas Wallace, Margaret Wisor, Joshua Pulliam, and Joshua Coles — all identified in 2019 as primary distributors moving massive quantities of heroin laced with fentanyl and high-purity methamphetamine. Their operation didn’t run in shadows for long. Agents from the Bureau of Narcotics Investigations tracked transactions, communications, and distribution patterns that exposed a web of dealers including Dustin Black, Ashley Bowley, Adam Curci, Rikki Curcio, Andrew Hoover, Joseph Krise, James McDonald, Cayla Royer, and Michael VanDyne.

The October 2020 takedown saw law enforcement execute search warrants across multiple jurisdictions, seizing more than eight pounds of methamphetamine — the equivalent of approximately 700,000 individual doses. The stash, had it reached the streets, could have fueled a wave of addiction and overdose deaths across northern Pennsylvania. The drugs were vacuum-sealed, boxed, and ready for distribution — a chilling display of industrial-scale narcotics trafficking.

While Wisor, Pulliam, Coles, Black, Bowley, Curci, Hoover, McDonald, and VanDyne were already behind bars on unrelated charges, they were formally charged as part of the Grand Jury’s findings. Wallace, Rikki Curcio, Joseph Krise, and Cayla Royer were taken into custody this week and arraigned on charges including Criminal Conspiracy and multiple drug-related offenses. All remain presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro did not mince words: “While we lose 14 Pennsylvanians a day to drug overdoses, these individuals peddled poisons into our communities with total disregard for the consequences.” He emphasized that the mission extends beyond arrests — it’s about dismantling supply chains, protecting neighborhoods, and stopping the flood of synthetic opioids that have ravaged rural and urban communities alike.

The probe was a joint force operation involving the Attorney General’s North Central Drug Task Force, the Elk County District Attorney’s Office, the City of St. Marys Police, Clarion Police, Edinboro Police, Erie Bureau of Police, Girard Borough Police, Johnsonburg Police, Lake City Police, Millcreek Township Police, Ridgway Police, and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence. Senior Deputy Attorney General Roger Bauer is prosecuting the case.

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