$3.5M Meth Ring Included Lehigh Valley, Say Police

A four-year undercover investigation has resulted in the indictments of 27 people suspected of links to a crystal methamphetamine trafficking operation that stretched from Mexico and Texas to the Lehigh Valley.

Officials believe that the large network is responsible for the distribution of more than $3.5 million worth of crystal meth in southeastern and northern Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, which announced the arrests Wednesday.

Evidence obtained through undercover drug buys, wiretaps and other court-authorized surveillance was presented to a grand jury in 2011, which came back in September 2012 with multiple criminal charges for each suspect.

Although all the suspects arrested are primarily from Bucks and Montgomery counties and Philadelphia, their operation had a long reach, extending to the Lehigh Valley and north to Tioga County.

The Lehigh Valley has seen a rise in smaller meth businesses in recent years, as well as more significant rings. Last month, the attorney general charged six men with running a $1 million meth operation in Lehigh and Northampton counties.