{"id":258988,"date":"2026-08-04T14:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258988\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T14:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:36:18","slug":"lackawanna-county-drug-task-force-cocaine-probe-results-in-two-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258988\/","title":{"rendered":"Lackawanna County Drug Task Force cocaine probe results in two arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SCRANTON \u2014 A joint narcotics investigation by county, city, state and federal law enforcement agencies resulted in arrests of two people, the Lackawanna County District Attorney\u2019s Office announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>According to information in a news release:<\/p>\n<p>Kenneth Rivera Otero, 26, of Scranton, and Kaya Zdanowicz, 26, of Wilkes-Barre, each face charges from the probe conducted by the District Attorney\u2019s Office Drug Task Force, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration Scranton Field Office, the Pennsylvania State Police Troop R Vice Unit and the Scranton Police Street Crimes Unit.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation focused on Rivera Otero distributing cocaine and crack cocaine in Scranton.<\/p>\n<p>In July and August, investigators said they used a confidential informant to complete two controlled purchases of cocaine and crack cocaine from Rivera Otero. The deals were monitored and recorded, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, investigators conducted an additional controlled purchase before taking Rivera Otero into custody. He was found in possession of $421 in U.S. currency that included marked money, and a cell phone believed to have been used in narcotics trafficking, according to the news release.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators then executed a search warrant at a residence on Crown Circle Drive in South Scranton. There, they recovered $2,989 in cash that included confidential buy money, a digital scale containing suspected cocaine residue, a strainer used in the manufacture of crack cocaine, Chore Boy mannitol powder commonly used as a cutting agent and packaging materials commonly associated with the distribution of narcotics.<\/p>\n<p>They also recovered documents linking Rivera Otero to the residence. During a post-arrest interview, Rivera Otero allegedly admitted to the drug sale that occurred on the day of his arrest, according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Rivera Otero is charged with two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, a felony; criminal use of a communication facility, a third-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance; and possession of drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n<p>Zdanowicz, who was found in possession of a glass pipe used to smoke crack cocaine and a metal canister containing cocaine residue, is charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher speaks during a press conference in the foyer of the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton Monday, April 6, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\" width=\"2400\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/STT-L-KRATOM-0407-04.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"1600090\" \/>Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher speaks during a press conference in the foyer of the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton Monday, April 6, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 A joint narcotics investigation by county, city, state and federal law enforcement agencies resulted in arrests&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-258988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258988","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=258988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}