PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Five men accused of running a multi-county drug operation are in police custody.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer says police seized cocaine, crack, marijuana, meth, and over 2,000 bags of fentanyl from the drug ring led by 36-year-olds Ernest Baxter, Devin Starks, Kevin Williams, and Marquice Justice, as well as 31-year-old Joseph Clements.
He says undercover officers worked to identify these men over a matter of months, even doing undercover buys from the suspects.
Stollsteimer says the reach of their alleged drug operation was striking.
“The sheer amount of communities that they were selling their narcotics in — I mean, you know, 40 plus municipalities in Delaware County, and we know that they were in every community selling this poison.”
Upper Darby Police Sergeant Timothy Bernhardt says more than $23,000 in cash was seized. Police believe most of the money made from drug sales was laundered into legitimate businesses and real estate.
“They were running daycares, they were running health and fitness clubs,” Bernhardt said.
He says they will now be looking into where the cash came from.