A couple who sold an animal tranquilizer to a confidential informant and warned them about the dangers of the drug face felony drug charges, according to a criminal complaint.
On Wednesday, Lackawanna County Detective John Munley met with a confidential informant regarding tranq sales in Scranton.
Tranq is the street name for Xylazine, a powerful animal tranquilizer that is not approved for human consumption and is usually mixed with drugs like heroin and fentanyl.
Trang Is commonly purchased in the Kensington area of Philadelphia and transported to Lackawanna County for drug dealers to sell, investigators said.
According to the complaint:
The informant said they could purchase the drug from Brian Kehl, 42, who was willing to come to the area to make money from drug sales.
The informant told investigators Kehl’s partner, Hailey Hafer, 21, would be driving him to the area.
Investigators intercepted numerous text messages between Kehl and the informant regarding the purchase of the drug.
At one point, Kehl warned the informant by text to be careful when injecting the tranq because he didn’t want to go to jail for “drug delivery resulting in death.”
Investigators provided the informant with a specific amount of money to make the purchase, and outfitted them with a covert audio recording device.
An arrest team consisting of Lackawanna County drug detectives and Pennsylvania State Police Vice Unit troopers set up surveillance near the agreed-upon location on Cedar Avenue in South Scranton.
Investigators watched as the informant met with Kehl and he handed over a quantity of tranq in exchange for cash.
Kehl again spoke with the informant about the strength of the drug and said he would soon have more for sale.
After the informant turned over the drug to investigators, county detectives and state troopers detained Kehl and Hafer.
Kehl admitted to the drug sale and Hafer admitted to driving him to make the sale.
Kehl and Hafer face felony charges of possession with intent to deliver. Kehl is also charged with criminal use of a cellphone.
Both remain in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of bail. Kehl’s was set at $75,000 and Hafer’s at $25,000.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 23 before District Judge Sean McGraw.