Twelve charged with running drug ring in Philadelphia and Bucks County

April 9, 2011

By Nathan Gorenstein

Inquirer Staff Writer

Standing in front of an AK-47, nearly $100,000 in cash, and piles of heroin, acting Attorney General Bill Ryan announced Friday that 12 men had been charged with running a multimillion-dollar drug ring in Philadelphia and Bucks County.

The dealers are accused of labelling doses of heroin as "Black Widow" and selling more than $16 million worth of heroin and cocaine over the last year.

Their alleged business was not without marketing challenges. Customers complained that Black Widow was too weak, so the dealers began calling it "Moon Dust," Ryan said.

The drug dealers started operating in 2009, authorities said, and the investigation started in November.

Ryan said Warner Mieses-Guzman, 32, of the 5300 block of Tabor Avenue, was the key supplier to smaller, interrelated drug operations.

He is charged with participating in a corrupt organization, delivery or possession of heroin, and other crimes. Mieses-Guzman and at least eight others were under arrest on Friday.

Police said Mieses-Guzman was an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Two other Dominican immigrants, both illegal residents, also were arrested.

Mieses-Guzman and his distribution network sold bulk quantities of heroin in Philadelphia for resale to individual users in the city and King of Prussia, Fairless Hills, and West Chester, among other areas, Ryan said. They also allegedly had customers in Mechanicsburg and other locations in central Pennsylvania.

When investigators spread out to serve 24 search warrants on 16 homes and eight vehicles, they seized nearly a kilogram of heroin, 10 vehicles, and $140,000 in cash.

Ryan said Mieses-Guzman and other participants in the ring distributed $35,000 worth of heroin a day.

Court documents say the dealers had customers call a cellular telephone number to arrange purchase of 14 single doses in what users call a "bundle." For $800, a buyer obtained 10 bundles containing a total of about 4.2 grams of heroin.

The cases will be prosecuted in Bucks County. The investigation was conducted by state and city police, along with officers from Bucks County and federal ICE agents.

Ryan announced the charges at a news conference in Philadelphia.

www.philly.com