Heroin ring busted in NEPA

Police announced Friday the arrest of two men they say distributed “thousands and thousands” of bags of heroin throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Investigators said Lamar Brown, 37, and Keith Fox, 30, sold their drugs in parking lots in the Wilkes-Barre Township retail district to customers who drove from Lackawanna and Wayne counties.

Brown and Fox would dilute their heroin so they could charge a cheaper price, thus prompting people to drive long distances for the drugs, said Frank Noonan, regional director for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office in Wilkes-Barre.

“Because they were charging such a low price, word was getting out in the heroin community that this was the place to go,” Noonan said.

Noonan said the two were selling bulk heroin to other dealers from Lackawanna and Wayne counties. He said the arrest likely will be an immediate dent in the heroin trade.

“I think there’s a lot of people today that are scrambling,” he said.

During a drug raid Thursday, police seized 2,675 bags of heroin, 16 grams of raw heroin, 75 grams of cocaine, a .357 Magnum revolver, and $11,655, police said.

Brown and Fox are New Jersey natives who were staying in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Brown was charged with possession of heroin, possession with the intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin, possession of cocaine, and possession with the intent to deliver cocaine. He also faces firearms charges. He was jailed in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 cash bail.

Fox was charged with possession of heroin and possession with the intent to deliver heroin. He is jailed in lieu of $25,000.