The multi-agency investigation that resulted in the dismantling of an alleged drug trafficking organization that sourced cocaine and methamphetamine from California and brought it Bristol Township continued as of this week, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said Thursday.
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Six men have been charged in connection with the “Byrne Drug Trafficking Organization,” and four suspects were in custody as of Thursday.
The district attorney said the probe is “still ongoing” in Bucks County and on the West Coast.
The takedown will have an impact on drug distribution in the region, Schorn said.
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The investigation, led by Bucks County Detectives, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), revealed a operation that allegedly transported large quantities of drugs from California to Bucks and Montgomery counties.
The street value of the seized narcotics is estimated to be over $5 million, the district attorney said.
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Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas said the operation was “large scale.”
LevittownNow.com broke the news on Tuesday and authorities held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon revealing new details.
“This was incredibly profitable and also a multifaceted criminal enterprise. In parts, it was complex. In other parts, it was quiet simplistic,” Schorn said.
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Prosecutors will be working to seize assets and look back to see if there was previous drug trafficking, Schorn said.
Court documents detail how the organization, allegedly led by Matthew Byrne, 43, of Broomall, Montgomery County, functioned with various roles, including distributors, transporters, storage coordinators, street-level traffickers, and narcotics brokers.
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Investigators believe members of the drug trafficking group made frequent trips to the Los Angeles area earlier this year to secure drugs, which were then shipped back to Bucks and Montgomery counties disguised in Bluetooth speakers and homemade wooden boxes. Deliveries were made to homes on Gable Hill Road and Indian Creek Drive in Bristol Township’s Levittown section.
In late January, federal agents first discovered drug were being shipped and opened an investigation, authorities said.
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Through intercepted communications, travel records, and physical surveillance, investigators tracked the drug shipments and identified Byrne’s business on Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown as a packaging and distribution hub. The investigation also included informant interviews, covert surveillance, wiretaps, and package searches.
On July 18, search warrants were executed in the region, leading to the seizure of drugs, drug paraphernalia, firearms, and cash, police said.
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Interviews with arrested individuals provided further details about the organization’s operations and potential financial motives.
Schorn told reporters county, state, and federal officials were able to track the drugs from California to Bucks and Montgomery counties and then to the area towns.
“I hope the outcome of this investigation serves to warn drug dealers in our community that you will be identified, caught, and prosecuted for your crimes and we will not tolerate criminal enterprises that profit from those who suffer from addiction,” Schorn said.
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Matthew Byrne, 43, of Broomall, Montgomery County; Joseph Byrne, 47, of Bristol Township’s Levittown section; Khalik Kemp, 34, of Philadelphia; Chaz Brandon Russel Harness-Walker, 40, of Inglewood, California; Ralph Brooks, 42, of Los Angeles; and Christian Garwood, 55, of Flourtown, Montgomery County, have all been accused of taking part in the drug trafficking ring.
According to court papers, District Judge Terry Hughes preliminarily arraigned four of the defendants: Garwood was held on 10 percent of $1 million bail, Matthew Byrne was held on 10 percent of $5 million bail; Joseph Byrne was held on 10 percent of $3 million bail; and Kemp was held on 10 percent of $3 million bail.
Harness-Walker and Brooks were still being sought, officials said.
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Assistance with the investigation was provided by the Louisville Metro Police Department, Bristol Township Police Department, Middletown Township Police Department, Radnor Township Police Department, Whitemarsh Township Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, and Philadelphia Police Department, Montgomery County Detective Bureau, and Delaware County Criminal Investigations.
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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