FBI SAYS 3 ARRESTS SMASHED DRUG RING

It Said The Chester-Based Operation Sold Heroin Fortified With The
Lethal Painkiller Fentanyl

A drug task force has arrested three people suspected of distributing
a deadly combination of heroin and a powerful painkiller, the FBI
said yesterday.

U.S. Magistrate Jacob Hart ordered Louis "Bardo" Morales, Osvaldo
"Valdi" Seda and Adam J. "Kekito" Torres-Ojeda held on charges of
possessing and distributing heroin.

Assisted by Delaware County investigators and Chester police
officers, the task force seized what agents called "a large quantity"
of heroin in predawn raids Wednesday at Morales' home in the 900
block of Walnut Street and at Torres-Ojeda's home in 600 block of W.
9th Street, both in Chester.

Jerri Williams, an FBI spokeswoman, said the drugs are being tested
for fentanyl, a powerful painkiller that increases the odds of taking
an overdose. Fentanyl is added to heroin to enhance its narcotic effect.

Williams declined to provide details of the arrests or seizures until
the warrants are unsealed. A bail hearing is set for Monday. The
suspects' ages couldn't be immediately determined.

The Morales organization is believed to be "a major heroin
distribution ring in the city," numbering 15 to 30 people including
hangers-on, said Chester narcotics Sgt. Joseph Bail.

"We targeted a significant heroin operation," said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jeffery Whitt, who is prosecuting the case. "But I can't say
yet whether we are dealing with" fentanyl-laced heroin.

Fentanyl-heroin overdoses have caused as many as 70 deaths in the
Philadelphia area and as many as 200 deaths nationwide since the
threat came to light in April, U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said Tuesday.

"We're trying to figure out where the stuff is coming from and how
much is out there," said Rick McGoldrick, a spokesman for the U.S
Drug Enforcement Agency.

The arrests followed a sweep by Chester police in the last week that
led to the arrest of as many as 25 dealers and users of
fentanyl-laced heroin sold under the brand "Assassin."

Those arrests pointed to the Morales organization, which has been
under investigation by a task force of city, county and federal
agents since May 2005 as a part of "Operation Manteca Buena."

"Once we realized this group was introducing fentanyl into heroin, we
decided to act quickly," said Williams.

The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed four
deaths in the county from fentanyl-laced heroin, an investigator
said, and is examining other deaths as possibilities, including two in Chester.

Inquirer staff writer John Shiffman contributed to this article.