A 10-month investigation of a drug-trafficking network that shipped large quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Reading through the mail culminated this week with raids on a dozen locations \u2014 including a Penn Street tattoo parlor \u2014 and nearly 20 arrests, authorities announced Friday.<\/p>\n
The investigation, dubbed Operation Postal Storm, was launched in January by the Berks County Drug Task Force and Pennsylvania State Police, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said.<\/p>\n
Investigators discovered that multiple kilograms of cocaine \u2014 as many as 3 kilos per week \u2014 were arriving in Reading via the U.S. Postal Service in priority flat-rate parcels. The shipments were double-wrapped to evade detection by narcotics-detection K-9s and concealed beneath children\u2019s toys and other innocuous items, Lt. Nelson Ortiz of the county detectives\u2019 narcotics unit said during a press conference at the county services center.<\/p>\n
As he displayed photos of the seized drugs and weapons, Ortiz pointed out a parcel wrapped in \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a common method of transport,\u201d Adams said, noting that previous investigations have also identified cocaine shipments originating in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
Lt. Nelson Ortiz of the Berks County Detectives\u2019 narcotics section explains the methodology of the alleged drug dealers during a press conference on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, at the Berks County Services Center. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE) (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The drugs, he said, are manufactured elsewhere in the Caribbean, but cartels use Puerto Rico \u2014 a U.S. territory \u2014 as a convenient point for shipping to the mainland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not our first parcel investigation, and it won\u2019t be our last, probably,\u201d Adams said. \u201cMaybe it will, but right now we\u2019re not stopping and we\u2019re going to continue to work with our federal counterparts and our state police, and we\u2019re hoping that we do put an end to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators determined that the parcels sent to Reading originated from Mayag\u00fcez, a city on Puerto Rico\u2019s western coast.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Jonathan Pagan-Vega, 42, the alleged leader of the trafficking ring, resides, authorities said. He was taken into custody in a raid on his home and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania, Adams said.<\/p>\n
Also arrested were three men identified as the organization\u2019s local leaders: Kelvin Rodriguez-Diaz, 37, of the 500 block of Linden Street, Reading; Edwin Martinez-Rodriguez, 33, of the 2200 block of Penn Avenue, West Lawn; and Osvaldo Reyes-Jimenez, 30, of the 1300 block of North 12th Street, Reading.<\/p>\n
They are being held in Berks County Prison in lieu of $1 million, $2 million, and $250,000 bail, respectively, awaiting hearings on charges of leading a corrupt organization, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, possessing and intending to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Several others were charged with participating in a corrupt organization as employees. Their charges are less severe than those faced by the alleged leaders, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Adams said members of the organization also were distributing large quantities of methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
Troopers and county detectives worked with federal partners, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, to dismantle the network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe utilized a variety of investigative techniques, including undercover drug purchases, intensive surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps,\u201d Adams said. \u201cAs a result, we obtained sealed search warrants from the Berks County Court of Common Pleas and a federal district magistrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting Monday, coordinated raids were conducted by members of the Berks County Drug Task Force, state police, Reading police, the Berks sheriff\u2019s office and federal partner agencies.<\/p>\n
Twelve firearms were seized, many of them from Way of Life Tattoo Studio, 1008 Penn St. They will be analyzed in the Berks ballistic lab to determine whether they were used in shootings or other crimes, Adams said.<\/p>\n
Twelve firearms were seized during a drug investigation, many of them from Way of Life Tattoo Studio, 1008 Penn St., officials said. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an ongoing investigation,\u201d he added. \u201cWe expect to learn much more as it continues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams praised the interagency cooperation, flanked by representatives from each participating agency during the press conference.<\/p>\n
Based on information gathered during the investigation, Adams said, federal efforts to intercept drug shipments at sea appear to be making a difference. He pledged to continue to work with state and federal agencies in Berks and beyond to help end the crime.<\/p>\n
Defendants were transported to the sheriff\u2019s central processing center, where they were processed and arraigned via video.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information to help investigators is encouraged to contact the Berks County detectives at 610\u2011478\u20117171. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Crime Alert Berks County by calling 877\u2011373\u20119913; downloading the ALERTBERKS mobile app; or sending a text message with ALERTBERKS and the tip to 847411.<\/p>\n
Defendants in case<\/p>\n
Operation Postal Storm defendants, their charges, and the bail following arraignment in Reading Central Court this week::<\/p>\n
These defendants were charged with participating in a corrupt organization as an employee, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, possessing and intending to deliver controlled substances, and conspiracy:<\/p>\n
Reading<\/p>\n
Nelson R. Leon, Sr. 56, 800 block of North 11th Street, $250,000.<\/p>\n
Johnny Lopez-Suarez, 39, 700 block of North 13th Street, $100,000<\/p>\n
Santos Torres-Rodriguez, 49, 300 block of Lackawanna Street, $300,000<\/p>\n
Victor Sanchez Sr., 48, 300 block of North Fourth Street, $50,000<\/p>\n
Henry Massa-Olmeda, 45, 200 block of Elm Street, $200,000<\/p>\n
Fernando Corona, 42, 700 block of North 12th Street, $50,000<\/p>\n
ElsewhereYessimalie Torres, 39, 4300 block of 12th Avenue, Muhlenberg Township, $5,000<\/p>\n
Chistopher Gottschall, 50, 2200 block of Fairview Street, Spring Township, $100,000<\/p>\n
These defendants, all of Reading, are charged with dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, possessing and intending to deliver controlled substances, criminal use of a communication facility and conspiracy:<\/p>\n
David Serrano, 36, 300 block of Lackawanna Street, $20,000<\/p>\n
Andrew Pendergrass Sr., 55, 500 block of Elm Street, $50,000<\/p>\n
Andrew Pendergrass Jr., 300 block fo Elm Street, $50,000<\/p>\n
These defendants are charged with criminal use of a communication facility and possessing a controlled substance:<\/p>\n
Jason Greth, 29, 1100 block of Gregg Avenue, Reading, $20,000<\/p>\n
Melissa Batterson, 46, 3000 block of Leisczs Bridge Road, Muhlenberg Township<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 10-month investigation of a drug-trafficking network that shipped large quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Reading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,5875,11499,11500,1224,1471,736,128,130,129,10737],"class_list":{"0":"post-15590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-county-detectives","10":"tag-john-t-adams","11":"tag-nelson-ortiz","12":"tag-pennsylvania-state-police","13":"tag-puerto-rico","14":"tag-reading","15":"tag-reading-city","16":"tag-reading-city-headlines","17":"tag-reading-city-news","18":"tag-u-s-postal-service"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15590","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=15590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}