$2.3 million worth of heroin found in NE Philly

Police confiscated about $2.3 million worth of heroin this week in what they’re calling the largest heroin bust in Philadelphia history.

Police say they learned about the stash of heroin while following a tip about a robbery. Officers arrested a man in connection with the planned heist, then headed to the target of the thwarted robbery: an apartment in the Olney neighborhood. They found about 5,000 grams of heroin in the apartment, plus another 1,000 grams in a car with connections to the property.

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said it’s the equivalent of about 100,000 individual drug transactions on the street.

“It’s going to really put a substantial dent into the drug trade in Philadelphia when it comes to heroin sales,” Small said after a news conference Friday.

Small said he hopes the bust will lead to more information on Philadelphia’s narcotics supply.

“Not only did we take this large amount of heroin off the street,” Small said, “but now we have three individuals that we can question to find out where exactly they got the heroin.”

FBI special agent J.J. Klaver, who helped with the case, said it’s a significant seizure of drugs, even on the national scale.

Three men have been arrested on charges of  possession with intent to distribute. The investigation into where the drugs came from is ongoing.