Towamencin man arrested on weapons, drug charges

Towamencin police have announced the arrest of a township resident on drug and weapons possession charges after a lengthy investigation.

Duane Eric Watson, 43, of the 500 block of Candlemaker Way faces a long list of charges resulting from an investigation that began in November 2017, according to police.

Police said the investigation began when neighbors noticed an unusual amount of traffic coming and going from the residence, with vehicles only staying briefly and appearing to be from outside the neighborhood.

After an investigation that included extensive surveillance and a series of controlled drug purchases from the residence, Towamencin Township Police detectives obtained search warrants for the residence and several vehicles. On July 19 Watson was served with three search warrants and taken into custody, police said.

At that time, Watson was alleged to have been selling Oxycodone Hydrochloride, a controlled substance, from the residence. One pill of Oxycodone Hydrochloride and $4,800 were seized during a search, along with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and a quarter stick of dynamite deemed by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad to be a forbidden explosive device, according to police.

On July 19, Watson was charged with the drug and weapon related offenses, and was committed to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 cash bail, police said. Additional investigation and further review of the charges by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office led to a revised and amended list of charges filed by police.

The revised list includes counts of possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver, receipt in commerce of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited to do so, possession of weapons of mass destruction, and threats to use weapons of mass destruction.

The original charges filed in July included four felonies and three misdemeanors, and the revised list filed Sept. 20 totals eight felony counts each of possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility, and 18 misdemeanor counts of bomb threats. Other charges include one felony charge each of the firearms and weapons of mass destruction possession, and a total of four misdemeanors for possession of drug paraphernalia, of marijuana and of a controlled substance, according to court documents.

On Sept. 20, Watson was arraigned before District Judge Ed Levine of Lansdale on the revised and amended list of charges, and remained committed to the Montgomery County correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1 before Levine.

Towamencin police were assisted by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Bux-Mont Safe Streets Task Force, police said.