Philadelphia men charged in heroin case
Washington Co. man suspected of being their dealer
A man suspected of dealing heroin in Washington County worked with investigators there to arrest his suppliers in Philadelphia, officials said Wednesday.
The investigation began in June after police received a report that Joseph Rasel, 55, of Washington was going in and out of consciousness inside a car. When they searched the car, police found stamp bags of suspected heroin, a bottle containing pills and more than $8,400, according to court records.
Police searched Mr. Rasel’s home in November, noting that he was “known to law enforcement as a distributor of heroin in Washington County.” Inside, they found drug paraphernalia, cash and a cell phone.
Police used statements from Mr. Rasel and text messages to build their case against Philadelphians Talbert HillEl, 36, and Jose Alicea, 35. Police said they arranged for Mr. Rasel to buy more than 1,400 stamp bags of heroin from Mr. Hill-El and Mr. Alicea. Police then took all three men into custody.
Washington County officials filed charges against Mr. Hill-El and Mr. Alicea on Tuesday. District Attorney Eugene Vittone said Wednesday that the men are in custody and will be brought to Washington County for prosecution.
Mr. Rasel has not been charged in connection with those drug sales but does have other criminal cases pending, some involving drugs.
“I’m not naive enough to think this is going to dry up heroin in Washington County, by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but is this an important step in that direction? I think so,” Mr. Vittone said of the arrests of the Philadelphia men.
Pennsylvania State Police Capt. David Heckman of the Washington barracks said troopers suspect the men were responsible for bringing more than 30,000 bags of heroin into Washington County in less than a year.
Mr. Vittone and Capt. Heckman said the investigation was ongoing.
Mr. Vittone said a review of arrest affidavits led him to believe that in 2016, heroin or other opiods were involved in at least a third of all criminal cases in Washington County, surpassing alcohol as the intoxicant tied to the highest number