A Bristol Township man facing charges in Bucks County is now in trouble on the other side of the Delaware River.
Lawrence Priester, 39, is charged in New Jersey with maintaining/operating a CDS production facility, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of heroin and oxycodone with intent to distribute. He is facing a drug-related offense in Bucks County and is in the county correctional facility.
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After a two-state investigation, New Jersey authorities charged Priester, Deniece Reeves, 26, of Browns Mills, New Jersey, Rosa Lind, 36, and Tyran Kelsey, 35, both of Trenton, New Jersey, with drug-related offenses, New Jersey State Police said last week.
On Tuesday, March 16, New Jersey State Police, the Trenton Police Department SWAT team, West Windsor (New Jersey) Police Department, special agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bristol Township Police Department, Falls Township Police Department, and Bucks County Detectives executed search warrants on both sides of the river.
The search warrants in the two states led to the seizure of $150,000 worth of narcotics and more than $5,000 cash, New Jersey State Police said.
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Some of the evidence recovered during the search warrant executions were linked to two fatal overdoses and one non-fatal overdose, both of which happened in New Jersey, authorities said.
Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
Bucks County court papers stated approximately 2.02 pounds of fentanyl inside a black “Thank You” bag in a living room closet, a scale, sandwich bags, a grinder, and a bottle of mannitol, a common cutting agent were found after search warrants were executed at the Alexandria Apartments on Plaza Boulevard in the Morrisville section of Falls Township. Hidden Forest Apartments in Fairless Hills’ Bristol Township section.
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The drugs found in Bucks County had a reported street value of of $120,000.
“When I think of all of the thousands of lives that we’ve potentially saved with this arrest and drug seizure, I’m grateful for law enforcement’s interstate investigation and collaboration in locking this guy up,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said of the case earlier this month. “But the fight’s not over.”
“Oftentimes massive, bulk seizures make the headlines, but the most vital component of a narcotics trafficking network is the processing mill. Through collaboration with our partners, we were able to identify and assist with shutting down a Pennsylvania mill producing brands of narcotics linked to fatal and non-fatal overdoses here in New Jersey,” said Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
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The raids came after a four-month investigation that probed the distribution of narcotics in and around Trenton, New Jersey State Police said.
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.
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