FBI Director Kash Patel calls Philadelphia drug takedown how you safeguard American cities
The FBI and federal prosecutors on Friday announced a “historic” indictment charging 33 alleged members of the Weymouth Street Drug Trafficking Organization accused of fueling Kensington’s open-air drug market for nearly a decade.Officials said 24 defendants were arrested in coordinated operations Friday, eight were already in custody, and one remains at large.Authorities executed 11 federal search warrants, and results are pending.At a Philadelphia news conference, FBI Director Kash Patel called the operation a model for reclaiming violent corridors from crews, praising years of collaboration between the FBI, Philadelphia Police Department and the US Attorney’s Office.“Today, even more criminals are off the streets because of the diligent work of the FBI and our partners,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “Over 30 people have been charged for their alleged role in drug trafficking and dozens of other offenses. These individuals were charged with distributing fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine on one of the most prolific drug blocks in Philadelphia.They were members of a violent drug trafficking organization and used violence to enforce their territory and sell drugs that poison our city streets and community.
The FBI will continue our work to put an end to drug trafficking and violence in our cities.”“This takedown is how you safeguard American cities from coast to coast,” Patel said.“We have permanently removed a drug trafficking organization off the streets of Philadelphia.”US Attorney David Metcalf said the case centers on the 3100 block of Weymouth Street in Kensington, a prolific stretch of the city’s open-air market.
The indictment charges a conspiracy dating to January 2016 through October 2025 involving fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine.“It’s a massive drug-trafficking conspiracy spanning nearly a decade, the largest federal indictment this century brought by our district,...