Attorney General Dave Sunday, along with the Pennsylvania State Police, Philadelphia Police Department, and other partners, announced today the takedown of a North Philadelphia-based drug trafficking organization which had been operating out of a coffee shop for the past decade.
According to a press release, the takedown included multiple arrests and large seizures of firearms, cocaine, fentanyl, and other drugs. In all, 17 members of the Louis Alexander Drug Trafficking Organization were charged and placed in custody, including the group’s 56-year-old leader, Louis Alexander.
According to CBS News, the drug trafficking enterprise used a coffee shop called Cumberland Coffee and Snacks at the corner of West Cumberland and North Cleveland streets as a front for the organization.
“Many of these defendants have been at this for a very long time,” Sunday said. “They were menaces to society, to people and families who just want to live free without concern for violence and crime in their everyday life. This criminal organization deprived them of that peace of mind.”
The defendants face charges including felony counts of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver, and illegal possession of firearms. Many are incarcerated following arraignments.
Law enforcement officials said they made the arrests while serving search warrants last week at 30 locations, mostly in North Philadelphia, but also other parts of Philadelphia, Delaware County, and New Jersey. Last week, officers, troopers, and agents served search warrants, seizing quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana, Ecstasy pills, cash proceeds from drug-dealing, and 27 firearms.
More than four pounds of cocaine and 130 pounds of marijuana were seized, officials said.
The investigation is ongoing regarding the firearms and potential involvement in violent crimes.
“Today marks a new day for North Philadelphians who were, for far too long, exposed to a group of criminals who did not hesitate to carry firearms to protect their lucrative trade — distributing poisons,” Attorney General Sunday said. “For years, with our partners, we assembled cases against each and every charged defendant so when we took action, it would be the end of this criminal enterprise.”
Louis Alexander is incarcerated on $750K bail. The defendants on parole or probation will have detainers lodged and will face additional punishment for violating the law while under supervision, officials said.
In all, charged are: Louis Alexander, Carl Gates, Kendal Wilson, Gloria Alexander, Isaiah Washington-Trotty, Tyrone Scott, Marcus Clark, Isaiah Gallashaw, Cedric Carter, Paul Johnson, Eric Crawford, Corey Smith, Steven Birton, Tammika Billups, Domanick Pope, Calvin Gambrell, and Philip Smith.
Also assisting in the investigation and subsequent searches and arrests were U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, US Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, Monroe Township Police Department (New Jersey), and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office (New Jersey).
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Photos: AG Sunday’s Office