27 people charged in $3.5M meth ring (SUSPECT PHOTOS)

PHILADELPHIA - November 28, 2012 (WPVI) -- More than two dozen people face charges in a $3.5 million crystal methamphetamine trafficking network that stretched from Mexico to Pennsylvania, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

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The drugs came from Mexico and were moved across the border in Texas, authorities said, with as much as a pound of drugs transported into Reading and Philadelphia every two weeks. The drugs were then repackaged in smaller quantities and resold in the Philadelphia area, the Lehigh Valley and north-central Pennsylvania, prosecutors said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement that investigators with her office, state police and the Bucks County district attorney's office used surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps - along with undercover drug buys - to identify suppliers, distributors and dealers connected to the organization. Evidence and testimony was presented to a statewide grand jury, which recommended charges against 27 suspects.

The investigation centered on the activities of Robert H. Snyder, 53, of Pottstown, and Wesley B. White, 53, of Roaring Branch.

Snyder received bulk quantities of meth from sources in Mexico and supplied drugs to White, who used a number of dealers and associates in Berks and Tioga counties to sell the drugs, according to investigators.

Snyder and White were charged with participating in a corrupt organization, delivery of a controlled substance, conspiracy and other counts. Telephone numbers for them could not be located and it was not immediately clear if any of the defendants had attorneys.

During the investigation, agents and troopers seized about four pounds of crystal meth, one partially dismantled meth lab, nearly 100 firearms, $110,000 and 16 vehicles, authorities said.

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pennsylvania, bucks county, texas, mexico, drugs, local/state

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