ttorney General Jerry Pappert and Blair County District Attorney David C. Gorman, along with local law enforcement officials, Friday announced that agents of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation (BNI), members of the Blair County Drug Task Force and nearly 100 police officers from throughout the region were in the process of apprehending as many as 62 alleged drug dealers operating in Blair County.
The vast majority of those arrested or for which warrants had been issued were from the Altoona area. Most of the supects were wanted for possession and delivery of either heroin or crack cocaine.
A rural Tyrone woman, Stephanie Snyder, RD 3, Box 63, had an arrest warrant issued for her for one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
The announcement of the latest raid came just a day after word of the arrests of six other suspected drug dealers allegedly operating in Tyrone and Altoona. Those arrests resulted in the seizure of more than $12,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine and $2,000 in cash. That investigation was also coordinated by the Blair County Drug Task Force, with assistance from the Attorney General’s Special Operations Team and K-9 unit.
According to a press release from his office, Pappert said the latest arrests are the result of a four-month investigation into alleged street-level drug dealing in and around Altoona. The suspected drug dealers being arrested all allegedly made drug sales to undercover agents or to confidential informants working with the Blair County Drug Task Force. Pappert said undercover agents made more than 140 drug purchases during the course of the investigation and were also assisted by information forwarded from Blair Counties’ “Push Out the Pushers” hotline (814-693-3020).
Pappert said this investigation focused primarily on the sale of heroin. However, he added that some of the suspects being arrested , are charged with the sale or possession of other drugs, including cocaine, crack cocaine and the prescription pain medication Fentanyl.
Pappert explained that the Blair County Drug Task Force, which receives its funding from the Attorney General’s Office, was established to conduct street-level drug investigations. He said information gathered from these investigations, including where the drug dealers obtained their drugs, is used to target mid -to upper-level drug dealers by his BNI agents and drug prosecutors.
Pappert said that his office and officers of the Blair County Drug Task Force, which is part of the Attorney General’s Region IV West Drug Task Force, have been working diligently in Blair County, investigating and arresting street-level drug dealers.
Since 1997, Pappert said his agents and Region IV West Drug Task Force officers have charged in excess of 1,300 drug dealers, not including Friday’’s suspects. During 2004 the task force has made more than 190 drug arrests in Blair County, including large-scale raids in January, April, June and August, in addition to Friday’s arrests.
In October of this year agents seized one kilo of cocaine during a task force raid, while in April of this year officers seized 200 packets of heroin and 38 bags of marijuana during a similar raid.
“Illegal drugs are poisoning our communities and destroying the lives of our citizens,” Pappert said. “We are here today to send a clear message that drug dealers are not welcome in Blair County, or anywhere else in Pennsylvania, and that we will not rest until we rid our communities of this threat.”
Pappert praised the work of the task force officers and commended District Attorney Gorman for his continued cooperation and assistance with the drug task force.
Pappert thanked police departments from Allegheny Township, Altoona, Bellwood, Blair Township, Duncansville, Freedom Township, Greenfield Township, Hollidaysburg, Logan Township, Martinsburg, North Woodbury Township, Pennsylvania State Police Troop G, Penn State University/Altoona Campus Police, Roaring Spring, Tyrone and Williamsburg, along with the Altoona Regional Health System Police, the Altoona School District Police, the Blair County District Attorney’s Office and the Blair County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with ongoing task force investigations.
Pappert also thanked the Huntingdon County Drug Task Force, the Centre County Drug Task Force, the Clearfield County Drug Task Force and Blair County Emergency Services for their assistance with the raid.
Pappert said the defendants were scheduled for preliminary arraignments before District Justices Todd Kelly and Joseph Moran.
District Attorney Gorman’s office will prosecute the cases.
