Multi-Agency Levittown-Area Drug Investigation Leads To Arrests

A multi-agency drug investigation that spanned several months has led to the arrest of a number of people.

The investigation involved drug buys, covert surveillance, use of a Philadelphia Police Department helicopter, and a large amount of heroin that flooded into the region.

Starting in March, police from Bristol Borough, Falls Township, Bristol Township, and Middletown began to zero in on Cornelius Bell, 28, of Trenton, and his associates as part of ongoing efforts to fight the drug epidemic. They allege that Bell and those associated with him had been peddling 500 to 1,000 bags of heroin a day and focusing their sales “primarily to users in Lower Bucks County,” according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Police also arrested Bell’s 27-year-old drug-dealing partner Jalmed P. Marks, of Trenton.

More than 2,500 bags of heroin were recovered at several residences where the Mercer County (New Jersey) Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants as part of the Bucks County investigation. Though based in New Jersey, the heroin was mainly sold in Lower Bucks County, authorities said.

Bell and Marks worked along with Joshua White, 27, and Aaron Gyampo, 26, both of Trenton, to peddle heroin. Members of the group appeared at nearly every drug purchase monitored by investigators, police said.

Drug buys by informants took place across the Levittown area, according to court papers.

Bell and Marks were arrested in early November as part of day-long operation that involved a number of law enforcement officials from the area, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.

Dustin Biondino, 33, of Falls Township, was also charged after he allegedly assisted Marks with the sale of heroin to an undercover officer in October, authorities said.

Biondino is accused of selling drugs in the township before the monitored sale in October. He also allegedly fled investigators and tried to flush items down a toilet following what appeared to be a drug deal in the parking lot of the Aspen Falls Apartments in Falls Township. He was also found with drug paraphernalia and heroin, police said.

The overall investigation involved heroin labeled as “Tom Brady,” “Armani,” “White Castle,” “Scorpion,” and other names, court papers said.

Tips received through the Push Out The Pusher campaign were “instrumental in building the case,” prosecutors said.

The Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force and Pennsylvania State Police assisted municipal police with the investigation.

“From its inception in 2017, our Drug Strike Force has been committed to taking down major drug organizations in Bucks County through collaborations with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,” said District Attorney Matt Weintraub. “This bust is but one great example of our concentrated, multi-agency approach to getting this poison off the streets.”

Seven drug buyers also were arrested as part of the operation, authorities said.

Bell, Gyampo, Marks, and White all face the same charges, including conspiracy, drug-related offenses, and corrupt organizations. Bell is being held at the Bucks County Correctional Facility, Marks is being held by New Jersey authorities, and White and Gyampo remain at large.

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.