Four Pennsylvania men have been charged for their roles in a cross-country drug trafficking ring.
The Bucks County District Attorney's Office said that they used Bluetooth karaoke speakers to move millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine and cocaine from California to Pennsylvania.
Several agencies were part of the investigation which stopped the Byrne Drug Trafficking Organization that was led by 43-year-old Matthew James Byrne, of Delaware County, officials said.
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"I hope the outcome of this investigation serves to warn drug dealers in our community that you will be identified, caught, and prosecuted for your crimes and we will not tolerate criminal enterprises that profit from those who suffer from addiction," Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said.
According to the investigation, officials believed that the organization shipped about $5 million in drugs in the last six months between California and Pennsylvania with the intent to sell them.
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Detectives tracked travel records, intercepted the communications between the organization members and surveilled the group.
Byrne is accused of taking several trips to Los Angeles, California, to purchase the drugs and would be there for two to three days at a time, officials explained.
While in California, Byrne allegedly met with narcotics brokers, bought the drugs and then concealed them inside Bluetooth speakers or homemade wooden boxes in order to ship them back to Pennsylvania, the District Attorney's Office said.
The shipments to Pennsylvania were sent to fake names, according to officials. Detectives said they tracked 12 shipments to locations in Bristol Township and to Montgomery County.
Most of the packages were sent to Byrne's brother in Bristol Township, investigators said.
Over the course of the investigation, three shipments were intercepted by officials in Louisville, Kentucky, by the United Parcel Service’s Worldport facility, detectives said.
During search warrants at homes in Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery counties on July 18, detectives found illicit drugs, guns and over $20,000 in cash.
On Monday, Aug. 5, Byrne, his brother 47-year-old Joseph Byrne, 55-year-old Christian Garwood of Flourtown and 34-year-old Khalik Kemp of Philadelphia were arraigned by a judge and taken to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on bail.
Two California men are also facing charges but they have not been taken into custody yet, officials said.
All six men now face several charges including possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and other charges.
The investigation into this organization is still ongoing.
