Highland Park man arrested in drug bust

A Highland Park man was arrested Thursday in what police called a “significant narcotics bust.”

Police obtained a warrant for Patrick Dong Jo Kim, 34, after he allegedly left a “substantial” amount of marijuana and cash in a loaner vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.

Mr. Kim borrowed an SUV from Rohrich Lexus in Brookline after bringing his sedan in for service. After he returned the loaner vehicle, employees discovered the drugs and called police, the complaint reads. Mr. Kim returned to the dealership the next day and told employees that he had left a Home Depot receipt in the SUV. He looked in the trunk, saw that the items had been removed and left the dealership.

On Thursday morning, Pittsburgh police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents served the warrant and searched Mr. Kim’s residence in the 6300 block of Jackson Street.

Among the items police obtained were: 6 pounds of marijuana, 3 pounds of THC wax, $285,000 in cash, a 9mm Beretta pistol, a 12gauge Remington 870 shotgun, about 16 grams of raw heroin, 280 stamp bags of heroin and 40 grams of suspected fentanyl.

Police also seized Mr. Kim’s 2007 Lexus sedan, a money-counter machine, a vacuum-sealer machine and an industrial-sized cansealer machine.

When reached for comment, Mr. Kim said, “Addiction is your brain telling you lies” and “to be human is to be addicted to the lives that we lead.”

Mr. Kim was taken into custody and arraigned Thursday evening in front of Judge Ralph E. Kaiser. No bail was set, and he was released on his own recognizance, according to court documents.

He faces a charge of drug possession and a felony charge of possession of drugs with intent to deliver. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 23.