Investigators from federal, county, and municipal levels worked together this week, seizing five pounds of suspected methamphetamine from three men in Bensalem. Investigators said the 10,000 individual doses of meth have a street value in excess of $225,000.
Andres Ramirez Orozco, 30, of San Leandro, California; Joel Javier, 26, of Philadelphia; and Travis Smith, 30, of Willingboro, New Jersey; were arraigned before District Judge Jan Vislosky on charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy.
Advertisements
Investigators from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Drug Strike Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division, and the Bensalem Township, Falls Township, Middletown Township and Philadelphia Police Departments worked together on the case.
“This seizure represents a significant amount of methamphetamine that will not end up being distributed on our streets and in our communities,” said Gary Tuggle, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Philadelphia Field Division. “The DEA, working with our law enforcement partners here, will continue to aggressively target the drug traffickers that seek to damage our neighborhoods.”
According to police, Smith is a heroin user who agreed to drive Javier, who had brokered a five-pound methamphetamine delivery for Orozco, to Bensalem in return for $500.
Advertisements
On Monday, December 11, a DEA agent reportedly saw Javier pull up to a house in the 6000 block of Tulip Street in Philadelphia. After briefly going inside the home, Javier sat for 15 to 20 minutes in a vehicle with an unidentified man before speaking with Orozco, a concrete contractor from California.
The agent watched Javier packing a soft designer bag with unknown items and placing it in Orozco’s vehicle before both men drove off, the affidavit states.
Advertisements
The following day, police saw Javier’s car, Orozco’s car and a Toyota with New Jersey plates arrive together at the Holiday Inn Express, 3327 Street Road in Bensalem, the affidavit states. It was then that police saw Javier with an unidentified man in a vehicle before Javier removed a white shopping bag, which contained suspected methamphetamine, and placed it inside the Toyota.
All three men were remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $950,000 bail.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
Advertisements
