A Montgomery County man who allegedly transported millions of dollars’ worth of heroin in car batteries across several states was arrested in one of the biggest drug busts in the county’s history.
David Pacheco of East Norriton was arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance and other related offenses.
Pacheco’s arrest was the culmination of a nine-month investigation involving several agencies, including the DEA, Pennsylvania State Police, and four local police departments. Pacheco was first identified in April of 2015 as a suspect in a major heroin operation involving Atlanta, Montgomery County and New York City.
Officials say Pacheco, who owned D&J Towing in Norristown, made at least nine trips, starting in September, 2015, to New York City to service wholesale heroin buyers. During each trip, Pacheco drove to Atlanta where he received kilos of heroin that were stored in retrofitted, working car batteries, according to police. He then allegedly drove to Montgomery County and then to the Bronx where he was paid for the heroin. Police said he then returned to Georgia with the drug money.
Pacheco’s final trip occurred on January 10. He was pulled over by State Police at the King of Prussia Plaza toll on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Police said they found three kilos (6.6 pounds) of heroin with a street value of over $1 million stored in a car battery inside his vehicle.
Pacheco was arraigned and held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $1 million bail.
“Heroin is cheap, it’s deadly and it’s impacting the lives of too many families in Montgomery County and across the United States. We have severed an artery in a significant heroin trafficking organization, ultimately stopping the flow of this deadly drug into and through our area by David Pacheco,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. “Taking more than three kilos of heroin out of the pipeline is a huge success for the safety and well-being of the people of Montgomery County and the larger region.”
