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An FBI Tampa SWAT team on Tuesday apprehended Pedro Sanchez-Laporte at a home in Lake Alfred, Florida, Michael Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, and Berks County District Attorney John Adams announced.
Sanchez-Laporte was allegedly a member of the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization, a violent Berks County drug dealing organization responsible for six murders in six weeks in Reading, including the 2018 quadruple homicide, LehighValleyLive reports.
Despite the fact that ten people were charged in connection with the crimes, Sanchez-Laporte has been on the run since 2019.
It was not immediately clear what led authorities to the home in Florida.
The FBI announced last month that it was offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that resulted in his arrest and conviction, 69 News says.
Sanchez-Laporte and four other members of the Trinidad DTO opened fire on four people selling drugs inside an apartment in the 100 block of South Third Street on Jan. 28, 2018, authorities told the outlet.
Three people died at the scene, while the fourth, -- later identified as Sanchez-Laporte’s nephew --later died at a local hospital, LeighValleyLive says citing authorities.
Jesus Feliciano-Trinidad, known as “Chewey” or “Che;” Fitzgerald “Barber” Daliot-Rios; and Yomar “Negrito” Velazquez-Figueroa were previously charged with murder in the deaths of Jarlyn Lantigua-Tejada, Juan Rodriguez, Nelson Onofre, and Joshua Santos, the outlet reports.
The other four suspects are awaiting trial in the homicide case.
U.S. Marshals will return Sanchez-Laporte to Pennsylvania where he will face charges for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and murder in the course of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, the outlet says citing authorities.
The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. attorney's office.
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