For the second time in two months, state police raided a north Reading home, seizing large quantities of illegal drugs and cash totaling tens of thousands of dollars that investigators said is indicative of a drug-distribution operation.
On Wednesday, according to court records, members of the Pennsylvania State Police Troop L Vice and Narcotics Unit obtained a search warrant for the home in the 300 block of Linden Street
The location is three blocks from the home in the 600 block of Linden where state police and agents with the state attorney general’s office seized about 2 pounds of marijuana during a Sept. 10 raid. Quantities of cocaine, the party drug MDMA and $17,000 were also seized.
In court papers, troopers said the latest search warrant was part of an ongoing investigation of suspect the illegal drug sales conducted by 33-year-old Felix Rodriguez-Roman from his home in the 300 block of Linden Street. They didn’t mention any other locations.
Investigators alleged the following in the probable cause affidavits:
About 5 p.m. Wednesday, troopers with the search warrant arrived in the 300 block of Linden. They found Rodriguez-Roman and Francisco Castro Jr., 46, standing near the front. They were detained without issue.
Troopers spotted a woman running from the rear door. They announced their presence, entered the home and detained her. Neither she nor a juvenile in the residence were arrested.
They discovered that Castro had an outstanding arrest warrant on drug charges.
Investigators determined the home is the residence of Rodriguez-Roman and the woman. Castro has been residing in a makeshift bedroom in the rear of the home.
A search of the residence yielded two wrapped bundles of cocaine weighing a total of about 2 pounds, along with drug-packing material, a vacuum-sealing device and a digital scale, and $13,579.
The cocaine was inside a U.S. Parcel Service box addressed to the residence.
In the rear room where Castro was staying, investigators found about 1 ounce of bulk fentanyl and an unidentified white powder that was believed to be a cutting agent, along with drug-packaging materials.
Rodriguez-Roman gave his consent for police to search numerous vehicles he used, including a pickup truck parked in front of the home. In the truck they found $9,100 bundled in unspecified increments in vacuum-sealed bags.
Rodriguez-Roman and Castro were arrested on drug-trafficking charges. Following arraignment Thursday before District Judge Kyley L. Scott in Reading Central Court, they were committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $250,000 and $100,000 bail, respectively, to await a hearing.
Source: Berkshire mont