Police target drug traffickers in Canton saturation patrol
A police saturation patrol was held in Canton Township Tuesday night, putting several people in Washington County jail with even more facing criminal charges. Participating were state police, Washington police, Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, county detectives and adult probation and the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.
“We were out there, trying to be proactive,” said Lt. Douglas Bartoe, patrol section supervisor for Troop B in Washington. “And I think it was a success. All of the agencies worked well together.”
Saturation patrols involve an increased enforcement effort, targeting a specific geographic area, to identify and arrest suspected drug-related offenders, probation violators and traffic offenders, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
“We were able to get quite a bit of drugs off the street,” Bartoe said.
Police confiscated drugs including heroin, marijuana, prescription pills and paraphernalia. Bartoe said a search warrant was served at a home on Tyler Avenue.
During a compliance check at a home in the 600 block of Addison Street, Washington police took into custody Wayne Murphy Jr., 23, of Pittsburgh. He was found with 139 stamp bags of suspected heroin in a plastic bag. Police found $1,586 in his pants pocket and another $297 near the bag. A man walking in the area of the house told police he was in the area to purchase heroin from a man matching Murphy’s description. He was put in jail on a probation detainer.
Also taken into custody and placed in jail on warrants or probation detainers were Chad Smith, 26, Helena Fischer, 38, and Thomas Edison, 53, all of Washington, and Jeffrey Little, 39, of Avella. Bartoe said 11 more face criminal charges for felony and misdemeanor violations, mostly for drug possession and paraphernalia. Police also issued 32 citations for traffic violations.
The LCE also did open inspections at four locations. Three had no violations but Arch Country Saloon on Green Street will be receiving a violation after contaminated liquor was found, police said.