{"id":14018,"date":"2025-10-24T19:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/14018\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T19:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:45:09","slug":"authorities-bust-large-scale-drug-trafficking-operation-that-shipped-cocaine-from-puerto-rico-to-berks-county-through-mail-berks-regional-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/14018\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities bust large-scale drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County through mail | Berks Regional News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>READING, Pa. &#8211; At a news conference held this morning, authorities announced multiple arrests tied to a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating in Berks County.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2025, the Berks County Drug Task Force and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) initiated an investigation which ultimately revealed that kilogram quantities of cocaine were being shipped through the United States Postal Service (USPS) from Puerto Rico to locations in Berks County.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, authorities say members of the same organization were distributing significant amounts of methamphetamine.<\/p>\n<p>State troopers and county detectives, along with USPS inspectors and members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), conducted undercover drug purchases, surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps as part of their investigation.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, coordinated search warrants were executed October 20 at the following locations and vehicles linked to the organization:<\/p>\n<p>549 Linden Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>547 Linden Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>2310 Fraver Dr, Reading, PA (Kings Inn, Room #241)<\/p>\n<p>1325 N. 12th Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>708 N. 13th Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>401 S. 11th Street, Reading, PA (1 Stop Away Auto Sales)<\/p>\n<p>Comm Buena Vista 107, Calle Washington, Mayaguez Puerto Rico<\/p>\n<p>1008 Penn Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>715 N. 12th Street, Reading, PA<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Authorities bust large-scale drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County through mail\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68fbbdb848a58.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    Berks County DA <\/p>\n<p>On October 22, additional warrants were executed on:<\/p>\n<p>Acura MDX<\/p>\n<p>1008 Penn Street, Reading PA (Way of Life Tattoo Studios)<\/p>\n<p>715 N. 12th Street, Reading PA<\/p>\n<p>Investigators say they seized bulk quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, twelve firearms, and U.S. currency.<\/p>\n<p>33-year-old Edwin Martinez-Rodriguez of West Lawn is facing corrupt organizations and drug charges and is being held at Berks County Jail on $2,000,000 bail.<\/p>\n<p>37-year-old Kelvin Rodriguez-Diaz of Reading is being held on $1,000,000 bail after being charged with corrupt organizations and numerous drug offenses.<\/p>\n<p>42-year-old Jonathan Pagan-Vega of Puerto Rico is charged with corrupt organizations and drug offenses. Online court records list him as not in custody in Berks County at this time.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Authorities bust large-scale drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County through mail\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68fbbdd832878.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    Berks County DA <\/p>\n<p>Authorities say the investigation also led to a variety of corrupt organization and drug charges against the following individuals:<\/p>\n<p>30-year-old Osvaldo Reyes-Jimenez<\/p>\n<p>56-year-old Nelson Leon, Sr.<\/p>\n<p>39-year-old Johnny Lopez-Suarez<\/p>\n<p>49-year-old Santos Torres-Rodriguez<\/p>\n<p>48-year-old Victor Sanchez, Sr.<\/p>\n<p>45-year-old Henry Massa-Olmeda<\/p>\n<p>39-year-old Yessimalie Torres<\/p>\n<p>42-year-old Fernando Corona<\/p>\n<p>50-year-old Christopher Gottschall<\/p>\n<p>36-year-old David Serrano<\/p>\n<p>55-year-old Andre Pendergrass, Sr.<\/p>\n<p>34-year-old Andre Pendergrass, Jr.<\/p>\n<p>29-year-old Jason Greth<\/p>\n<p>46-year-old Melissa Batterson<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Authorities bust large-scale drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County through mail\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68fbbdee48953.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    Berks County DA <\/p>\n<p>Several individuals charged in the case not currently in custody are being actively sought by police. They are:<\/p>\n<p>25-year-old Wesley Santiago<\/p>\n<p>39-year-old Emmanuel Rodriguez-Santos<\/p>\n<p>40-year-old Abraham Vega-Rodriguez<\/p>\n<p>28-year-old Andres Vazquez<\/p>\n<p>33-year-old Roberto Sandoval Jimenez<\/p>\n<p>The investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Berks County Detectives at 610\u2011478\u20117171. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Crime Alert Berks County at 877\u2011373\u20119913.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Authorities bust large-scale drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to Berks County through mail\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68fbbe109d5ad.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    Berks County DA <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"READING, Pa. &#8211; At a news conference held this morning, authorities announced multiple arrests tied to a large-scale&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,10667,10665,1224,1471,128,130,129,10664,10666],"class_list":{"0":"post-14018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-drug-enforcement-administration","10":"tag-illegal-drug-trade","11":"tag-pennsylvania-state-police","12":"tag-puerto-rico","13":"tag-reading-city","14":"tag-reading-city-headlines","15":"tag-reading-city-news","16":"tag-smuggling","17":"tag-the-united-states-postal-service"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}