Ten people are facing charges following the takedown of a major Pennsylvania-based drug trafficking ring, authorities said.
According to a news release from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the ten people are linked to a narcotics trafficking enterprise centered in Lehigh County that employed Mexican suppliers to smuggle fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine throughout various Pennsylvania counties.
The organization’s suspected leader, Emmaus resident Joaquin “Kino” Gonzalez, 40, was arrested over the weekend, according to officials. Investigators said he was importing cocaine from Mexico to Pennsylvania through a connection in Southern California.
In 2024, the state Office of Attorney General, FBI, and local police initiated an investigation into the drug trafficking ring, which “involved searches at numerous locations and seizures of large quantities of narcotics,” according to the news release.
During the searches, the AG’s office seized 5 pounds of fentanyl, 7 pounds of heroin, 3,000 fentanyl tablets, 48 pounds of methamphetamine, 6 pounds of cocaine, and 2 pounds of marijuana.”This was a high-level, cross-country operation that contaminated neighborhoods across the eastern part of the Commonwealth with deadly poisons,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a news release. “Closing down drug-trafficking pipelines remains a top priority for my office, as these traffickers value dollars over human lives, and we have seen, time and time again, the deadly violence attached to drug trafficking groups.”
Danny Cancel, 25, of Bethlehem; Joel Castro, 41, of Orefield; Sally Garcia-Colon, 39, of Emmaus; Jorge Marrero-Rodriguez, 60, of Allentown; Jordan Pagan, 37, of Leola; John Pagan DeJesus, 49, of Whitehall; Israel Perez, 45, of Bethlehem; Anthony Planas, 42, of Bethlehem; Hanzel Rivera, 37, of Bethlehem; and Gonzalez.
According to the news release, each has been charged with corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy, and other charges.
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