{"id":260075,"date":"2026-08-06T02:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/260075\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T02:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:52:34","slug":"two-people-arrested-in-cocaine-probe-by-lackawanna-county-drug-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/260075\/","title":{"rendered":"Two people arrested in cocaine probe by Lackawanna County Drug Task Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCRANTON \u2014 A narcotics investigation by county, city, state and federal law enforcement agencies yielded two arrests, the Lackawanna County district attorney\u2019s office announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Rivera Otero, 26, of Scranton, and Kaya Zdanowicz, 26, of Wilkes-Barre, each faces 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

The investigation focused on Rivera Otero distributing cocaine and crack cocaine in Scranton, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

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

On Monday, investigators conducted an additional controlled purchase before taking Rivera Otero into custody. He was found in possession of $421 that included marked money, and a cellphone believed to have been used in narcotics trafficking, according to the news release.<\/p>\n

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

They also recovered documents linking Rivera Otero to the residence. During a post-arrest interview, Rivera Otero admitted to the drug sale that occurred on the day of his arrest, according to the release.<\/p>\n

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

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

\"LackawannaLackawanna 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 narcotics investigation by county, city, state and federal law enforcement agencies yielded two arrests, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[202,201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,802],"class_list":["post-260075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-cvc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260075","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=260075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260075\/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=260075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}