Police, FBI drug raid nets six arrests
Charges are pending against six people after federal warrants were used to search four residences in the Easton area around 6 a.m. Saturday in what Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. called a “major drug investigation.”
Police did not release the names of those arrested or say what warranted the search aside from that this was a joint investigation with the FBI. They also would not say what the search uncovered. Information is being withheld because the investigation is ongoing, Easton police Lt. Matthew Gerould said.
A home on the first block of Olde Penn Drive in Palmer Township was searched, police said, as were three homes in Easton: on the 1000 block of West Wilkes Barre Street, the 200 block of Orchard Street, and the 100 block of South 12th Street.
Two of the six people arrested face federal charges and the other four are being charged with state offenses, according to Gerould.
The search warrants are related to a joint investigation by the Easton police vice unit and the FBI. State police assisted with the warrants.
Panto said he and city Administrator Luis Campos accompanied authorities to the Palmer Township home. The raid was the second of about 40 this year that Panto said he attended. He estimated that as many as 140 law enforcement officers were involved in Saturday’s effort.
“This was a major investigation that’s been going on for many months,” Panto said. “I want to be out there so I can speak firsthand to the professionalism and collaboration of these agencies.”
Panto said residents on Olde Penn Drive came out to thank the agencies for their work. He said it was a testament to how much the Easton Police Department has grown over the last decade, earning trust in the community.
Panto said the investigation began locally but expanded to federal authorities once law enforcement suspected the drugs involved crossed state lines.
“Criminals don’t know geopolitical boundaries,” the mayor said. “So cooperation among the agencies is extremely important in helping to get drugs off our streets.”