Thirty people alleged to be members of a Park Heights drug distribution ring have been indicted on conspiracy to distribute heroin charges, marking the climax of an eight-month investigation that involved wire taps, as well as city police, prosecutors and federal officials.
While rounding up the suspects yesterday, authorities seized 32 guns, about 1,400 gel capsules of heroin and more than $200,000 in cash, prosecutors said.
The suspects - who range in age from 23 to 55 - were indicted Feb. 8, and the indictments were unsealed yesterday as investigators swept Baltimore and Baltimore County making arrests. At least 20 suspects were in custody by late yesterday.
The arrests follow shortly after two men were hit with federal drug charges, and authorities said they were heroin suppliers for Northwest Baltimore, which includes Park Heights. James Larbi, 29, a Ghanaian national who lives in Bronx, N.Y., and Payton Green of Baltimore were arrested Feb. 16 with $400,000 and six kilograms of heroin.
Authorities described Green as the local kingpin and Larbi as his New York supplier. They were arrested after a long-term investigation that involved the same authorities.
Prosecutors would not say yesterday whether the cases were related. They said the wire taps in this case have helped identify other drug traffickers.
