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In an early-morning roundup on Thursday, Dec. 1, a total of 22 adults were taken into custody, said Berks District Attorney John T. Adams and Montgomery District Attorney Kevin R. Steele in a joint statement.
Five more suspects remain at large, they added.
The joint investigation, dubbed "Operation: Caribbean Snowfall," was launched by Berks and Montgomery detectives in July, after a Norristown drug dealer was found to have ties to a Reading-based supplier, the DAs wrote.
From there, investigators found the Reading supplier was linked to a smuggling operation based in Mexico and Puerto Rico that was shipping cocaine and fentanyl to greater Philadelphia through the postal service.
Working alongside state authorities, federal agencies, and a host of local police departments, the detectives managed to infiltrate the drug ring and purchase "bulk quantities of cocaine and fentanyl," prosecutors say.
The investigation culminated on Nov. 3 and 4, when authorities executed 11 search warrants at properties in Reading, Norristown, and Lancaster, the DAs said.
Officials seized more than 30 kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl with an estimated street value of more than $4.3 million, as well as guns, ammunition, drug manufacturing equipment, and $60,000 in cash, according to officials.
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