Law enforcement seizes about $2 million worth of fentanyl in Northeast Philadelphia

About $2 million worth of fentanyl was seized from homes in Northeast Philadelphia as part of a drug trafficking bust, according to the Pennsylvania attorney general.

Johan Manuel Almonte-Ortiz, Argedys Noel De La Cruz Jerez and Domingo Cedeno-Pimentel have been charged with felony drug trafficking, conspiracy and related offenses, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Friday.

Search warrants were executed this week at homes on Wellington and Montague streets in Northeast Philadelphia, Sunday said.

Law enforcement found more than 5 kilograms of fentanyl at the homes. Investigators said many of the drugs were being shipped across Pennsylvania.

"These drugs are so deadly that they, at any point, can kill someone," Sunday said. "And the minute that law enforcement would stop being aggressive in doing our job is when those poisons will continue to grow in ways that none of us would want to see."  

According to a news release, the investigation interrupted a fentanyl packaging operation at a home on Wellington Street. Law enforcement found nearly 100,000 packages of fentanyl ready for street sales and nearly 3 kilograms of the drug at the home. They also found more than 100 different stamps used to brand fentanyl.

Sunday said the investigation remains ongoing.

The bust was a joint effort between several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office.