HEROIN HIGHWAY TO HELL: Big Money Heroin Biz Smashed; Baltimore City Drug Kingpin Karon Peoples Busted
BEL AIR MD. – When a drug dealer is sent to jail for two days as a result of wheeling and dealing by the Baltimore City States Attorney, what does a drug dealer learn from that deal?
Those who wonder why Baltimore City is sinking into a cesspool of crime and murder needs to pay attention to how States Attorney Marilyn Mosby fails to incarcerate drug dealers and turns them loose instead of letting them join the mass incarceration of drug dealers in prison.
When drug dealers continue to move their product to the streets, more and more junkies die.
Soon, recreational drug users who decide that trying new ways to get high and graduate from snorting cocaine to try heroin will become addicted and eventually overdose.
The Harford County Narcotics Task Force (HCNTF) recently concluded a lengthy investigation into Karon Elijah Peoples, 23, of 6114 Frankford Ave., Baltimore, Md., for suspected trafficking and dealing, in addition to being linked to several non-fatal overdoses in Harford and surrounding counties.
Harford County Sheriff’s Captain Lee Dunbar addressed a press conference about the arrest of Peoples.
“The profit margin is driving the heroin business,” said Capt. Dunbar. “The sources of the supply are Baltimore City for us in Harford County and the rest of Maryland, even from West Virginia we have intelligence that is where the supply is coming from is from dealers in Baltimore City. That is a daily, 24-hour, three-hundred and sixty-five-day effort that is being conducted by the men and women of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office as well as our Task Force members from Bel Air, Harve de Grace and Aberdeen Police Departments.”
“We want to take this opportunity to commend the brave men and women of the Harford County Taskforce in this ongoing fight against this opioid epidemic,” said Harford County Sheriff Capt. Lee Dunbar when making the announcement of the arrest of Karon Peoples.
“Our objective is to go to the sources of supply like Mr. Peoples and go up to the upper-level dealers and dismantle them. We have more investigation avenues with the Task Force and working with the Maryland State Police. The databases are set up around the state and we can share information with many agencies.”
According to police, through covert investigation, confidential sources, and surveillance of Peoples, the HCNTF was able to develop sufficient probable cause to obtain a search warrant for Peoples’ vehicle, and residences located in the Frankford Avenue residence of Peoples and the unit block of West Lexington Street. Peoples was arrested on December 7, 2017, after the search warrant on his vehicle proved him to be in possession of approximately 70 grams of suspected heroin. Search warrants were then executed on two Baltimore City residences linked to Peoples.
According to court records, charges of possession of a large amount of heroin against Peoples were dropped by the Baltimore City States Attorney Marilyn Mosby on Jan. 25, 2018. In many drug dealing cases, initial charges are dropped while the States Attorney proceeds to take the information gathered on the alleged crime to a Grand Jury for indictments.
Police said that during the execution of a search warrant on the West Lexington Street address, approximately 900 grams of heroin with a street value of $110,000 was seized along with $405,000 in U.S currency.
At that point, the defendant is once again charged, and a trial is set in the Circuit Court. A reason for the Baltimore City charges to be dropped was that Peoples indicted for possession with intent to distribute heroin on January 4, 2018, in the US District Court for the District of Maryland.
Police said that during the execution of a search warrant on the West Lexington Street address, approximately 900 grams of heroin with a street value of $110,000 was seized along with $405,000 in U.S currency. Additionally, several items of narcotics paraphernalia, consistent with heroin distribution, were also recovered by investigators, to include a kilogram wrapper. Peoples was immediately charged by HCNTF Detectives in Baltimore City.
Captain Lee Dunbar, Commander of the HCNTF, said, “This is a significant arrest and seizure of heroin and cash from a major player in the city that is trafficking and dealing this dangerous and deadly drug to our citizens here in Harford County. The seizure of almost a kilo of heroin with a street value of $110,000 and $405,000 in cash will definitely disrupt People’s operations and hopefully, save lives. We know we need to do more, and we will continue to do more on the heroin and fentanyl front. The men and women of the HCNTF will continue to remain on the front lines of this fight and will continue to track down those dealers, no matter where they reside, that are selling this poison to our citizens. Our mission is to get these dealers, these killers, off our streets and for a very long time.”
The Harford County Narcotics Task Force is a highly trained, self-governing, multi-jurisdictional entity with a mission to investigate offenses in the areas of mid to upper-level drug trafficking while supporting and facilitating cooperation and coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement. The Harford County Task Force is comprised of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Harford County States Attorney’s Office, working together to make Harford County a safer place to live.
Peoples was cited by Maryland State Police Trooper S. John on May 1, 2017, while he operated 2007 Acura northbound on I-95. The charge was operating a vehicle with window tinting that is too dark, which is one of the stereotypical characteristics of drug dealers or wanna-be drug dealers. Peoples was ticketed about one year earlier for the same charge while westbound on Rt. 40. Perhaps Peoples also delivers to West Virginia and to New York.
On June 8, 2015, Peoples entered into a plea deal with the Baltimore City States Attorney Marilyn Mosby when he was charged with distribution of heroin and violating his probation. THE DEAL: in return for Peoples entering a guilty plea, he was sentenced to three years in prison with two years, eleven months and 28 days suspended and three years of probation, proving that Prosecutor Mosby could be more than a complete idiot. Perhaps she could have hand-delivered lunch to him while he spent those two long days in jail. She could have shined his shoes too. The reason for the quick and decisive indictment by the Federal prosecutors could well be tied to this alarming treatment of a heavy-hitter drug dealer by the incompetent Baltimore City States Attorney.
On Feb. 12, 2018, a new notice of violation of the terms of the probation was filed in connection with his conviction after a warrant for violation of probation was served on Dec 27, 2017.
