A detective from Warminster Township walked the courtroom through the single family home by describing each of the more than 100 photos taken after the December raid. He pointed to 10 work stations in the basement of the home, with equipment for packing drugs into baggies and cutting agents to dilute product, or as he put it, "to turn 1/2 kilo of heroin to 3/4 of a kilo, to get more bang for your buck."
Prosecutor Megan Stricker alleges the drug trafficking operation, described as a "heroin mill," processed hundreds of thousands of doses of heroin and fentanyl worth an estimated $8 million every week.
Each of the defendants - eight men and three women - was initially locked up on bail ranging from $5 million to $10 million, but defense lawyer Guy Sciolla griped he could not get an accurate fix on the amount of heroin alleged to have been trafficked.
The initial Bucks County District Attorney release after the raid indicated they confiscated 130 pounds. Sciolla points out that accounted for the initial high bail. But, a detective, through defense cross-examination, testified it was about 4 kilos, or 8.8 pounds.
Stricker maintains it was an $8 million-a-week drug packaging and distribution business. Bail for most of the defendants was reduced to the $1 million range.