U.S. GRAND JURY ACCUSES 9 PHILA. MEN OF OPERATING DRUG LABS

Nine Philadelphia men were ac cused by a federal grand jury yesterday of
operating drug labs in Kensington and Port Richmond that shipped more than
250 pounds of methamphetamine to traffickers across the East Coast since
1993.

U.S. Attorney Michael R. Stiles said that, in arresting eight of the nine
suspects yesterday, agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Admin istration
seized about $400,000 in cash and 4.2 pounds of the illegal stimulant from
houses in lower Northeast neighborhoods.

Stiles said those arrested had ties to a major meth laboratory that had been
broken up last year in Dover, Del., and had sold methamphetamine to the
Chester County chapter of the Pagans motorcycle club.

Members of the Chester County Pagans were indicted earlier this year on
charges of selling meth and cocaine in the outer suburbs of Chester, Berks
and Lancaster Counties, including to several Amish youth groups.

Four of those indicted yesterday are members of the Philadelphia chapter of
the Warlocks motorcycle club. They include Thomas J. Zaroff Sr., 55, of the
3000 block of Janney Street in Port Richmond, who prosecutors said is a
former Warlocks president and led the methamphetamine organization.

Indicted with Zaroff were Warlocks members Francis Taimanglo, 44, of the
6600 block of Vandike Street, Tacony; Edward Cunningham, 51, of the 4200
block of Mill Street, Holmesburg; and Dennis J. Ayres, 42, of the 6500 block
of Torresdale Avenue, Tacony.

Also indicted with Zaroff were Benjamin James Staab, 44, of the 1300 block
of Crease Street, Fishtown; Adolph Principale, 47, of the 9500 block of
Torresdale Avenue, East Torresdale; and Ronald Lucier, 35, of the 400 block
of Maple Avenue, Somerton. Lucier was identified as the one who allegedly
sold methamphetamine to the Chester County Pagans. Two other alleged
methamphetamine traffickers were indicted separately.

Thomas Fiet, 45, of the 8000 block of Crispin Street in Holmesburg, was
charged with operating a drug ring that produced and sold more than 200
pounds of meth since 1994.

Dale Adams, 42, of the 1900 block of Solly Avenue, Rhawnhurst, a former
police officer in Lower Southampton, Bucks County, was charged with
distribution of cocaine and distribution of methamphetamine during the first
half of 1997 in Bensalem and the city. At that time, the indictment alleges,
Adams was still a Lower Southampton officer, though on disability.

All the suspects but Ayres were arrested yesterday, and a federal magistrate
judge ordered them held pending bail hearings next week.

Yesterday's indictment alleges that Steven Alexander, 56, a former
Philadelphia police officer, cooked methamphetamine for Zaroff and other
drug rings. Alexander disappeared in April. His severed arm was later found
by a homeless man rooting through a Trenton trash bin. No arrests have been
made in the slaying.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst