31 People Arrested in Western Pennsylvania Drug Bust

31 People Arrested in Western Pennsylvania Drug Bust
Syringes used to inject drugs are seen in a metal box and a plastic bucket in a tent near the jade mines surrounding Hpakant, in Kachin State, some 600 miles north of Yangon, Burma, in October 2014. (AP Photo)
Epoch Newsroom
3/18/2016
Updated:
3/18/2016

Officials said that 31 people were arrested after a 14-month drug investigating on Western Pennsylvania.

Investigators made 115 under cover drug boys in the region since January 2015. They arrested 31 suspected drug dealers and 47 suspects on Friday.

About 86 percent of the drug buys were heroin, underscoring the opiate epidemic in the Eastern United States

They also seized a handgun and two shotguns, Triblive.com reported.

“The breakdown of this shows the problem we’re having in Western Pennsylvania,” Lt. Jeffrey Korczyk said.

More than 50 police officers partook in the busts, Tube City Online reported.

The arrests took place around Clairton, Glassport, McKeesport, Elizabeth Borough, Liberty, Lincoln and Port Vue.

Those arrested include 16 white women, 13 black men, 12 white men, and six black women. Meanwhile, the youngest is 19 and the oldest 60, said Triblive.com.

“I think this is a substantial thing for Glassport as a community,” he said.