Source: Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
This morning Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced the arrest of 57 individuals tied to the Alameda Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) responsible for selling fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and other substances in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, specifically within the four block radius of Kip and Cambria streets. The District Attorney’s office estimates that the Alameda DTO generated over $5 million in annual revenue and upwards of $10,000 per day in illegal drugs sales in that four-block radius of Kensington. In the past year, the Philadelphia Police Department made over 700 arrests and received over 300 hospital cases directly related to the drug trade in that same four-block radius.
In January of 2018, the Philadelphia Police Department and the DA’s office began their investigation of Alameda DTO, targeting leadership and key suppliers driven by financial gain as opposed to rolling up end users “driven by addiction.” “We should not be focusing on the tip of one tentacle, we should be going for the entire octopus,” Krasner said, echoing one of the key tenets of his drug war strategy. In recent months, the investigation has rolled up ringleaders Jeremiah Figueroa (AKA “Chino), German Alameda (AKA “June”, and Orlando Moran (AKA “O/Oskie”). All three have been charged with nearly 689 criminal counts, including running a corrupt organization, possession with intent to deliver heroin/fentanyl, and possession of illegal firearms. — HENRY SAVAGE