A major heroin bust in Bucks County led to charges for 13 people and the dismantling of a large drug operation responsible for several fatal overdoses, according to officials.
Investigators announced charges against three brothers, Sheamus McCarthy, 27, Casey McCarthy, 22, and Thomas McCarthy, 25, as well as ten other suspects.
The 13 suspects are charged with running or participating in the drug operation as well as several drug-related felonies and misdemeanors.
Police say the McCarthy brothers led an organization that sold as many as 400 bundles of heroin, each containing 10 to 14 bags, per week in the Quakertown area from late 2013 through late 2016. Sheamus and Casey McCarthy ran the operation from a remote, wooded family compound in Richland Township and also had locations in Springfield Township and Quakertown, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said. The organization made almost $1 million in annual business, according to Weintraub.
“Sheamus McCarthy was known around town as not only a high-level drug dealer, but someone who others described as an enforcer-type, involved in fights and acts of violence,” investigators said. “He was considered the `mastermind of the organization’ while Casey McCarthy frequently made trips to Philadelphia to acquire the heroin to be distributed to heroin dealers who would in turn sell the heroin to users.”
Police say the drug operation led to “widespread addiction amongst young citizens of the Quakertown area.” At least two people who bought drugs from the McCarthy organization died of overdoses, according to investigators.
“Heroin kills,” Weintraub said during a news conference Wednesday. “It has no redeeming value. It’s poison. And those who peddle this poison to our citizens – to our children – must be incapacitated.”
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The McCarthy brothers began their operation on a large, rural property in Richland Township where they grew up, investigators said. The property, located on Cherry Road, has a driveway three-eighths of a mile long in a wooded area, making it incredibly difficult for police to conduct surveillance on it, according to officials.
While the McCarthy brothers began their business in late 2013 they capitalized on the arrest of another drug dealer in Upper Bucks County in early 2014, filling the void he left behind and cementing a business relationship with the main supplier, according to investigators.
Officials identified the main supplier as Antoine Harris, 28, of Philadelphia. Harris allegedly provided heroin to Casey McCarthy every few days, normally in 100-bundle increments sold for $5,300 to $6,300, investigators said. The drugs flowed from Harris through the McCarthy organization through a network of drug dealers and users, according to the grand jury.
Sheamus and Casey McCarthy both made trips into Philadelphia to buy the heroin from Harris though Sheamus eventually withdrew from day-to-day activities and became more of a financial manager and overseer, according to officials.
Investigators said the organization used “follow cars” during their trips to and from Philadelphia to tail Casey McCarthy’s vehicle. The driver of the follow car drove erratically to divert attention from McCarthy’s Jeep if a police car followed, according to officials.
The McCarthy organization used names such as “Bueno,” “Miami,” “Protocol,” “Panela,” and “Fresh,” to identify their heroin bags, investigators said.
Officials said the McCarthy organization issued death threats against anyone who owed them money, including their own relatives.
Investigators say the third McCarthy brother, Thomas McCarthy, eventually broke off from the organization and ran his own smaller operation with locations in Quakertown, Richlandtown and Allentown.
Police say several incidents helped draw their attention to the McCarthy organization, the first being the fatal overdose of Daniel Killion, of Bucks County, on June 7, 2014. Bags of heroin with the “Miami” stamp were found on his body. One day later a woman named Kristine Turner suffered a non-fatal overdose in Milford Township after using the “Miami” brand, according to investigators. Police say both Killion and Turner purchased heroin from the McCarthy organization.
On December 6, 2014, a man named Sean Brzyski suffered a fatal overdose in Quakertown. Police determined Brzyski bought heroin from Jillian Betts, 25, who is accused of selling drugs for the McCarthy organization.
In September, 2015, a woman named Hillary Lauchmen was arrested for allegedly crashing her vehicle while high on heroin with her eight-month-old baby in the backseat. Police say several bags of the “Panela” heroin were thrown from her vehicle and she identified a member of the McCarthy organization as her supplier.
Officials say 11 of the 13 suspects are in custody. Antoine Harris and Ryan Mokrynchuk, 24, of Quakertown, remain on the loose.
You can view all 13 suspects and the specific charges against them in the gallery embedded above.
