By ADAM FERRISE
Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - Federal and state agents wearing protective gear and carrying assault rifles surrounded a northwest side home early Thursday searching for people in connection to a drug conspiracy ring centered in Pennsylvania, sources said.
Article Photos
An FBI SWAT team took one man into custody Thursday morning after surrounding a home on Arthur Drive. The man’s name was not released. Photo by Adam Ferrise
The agents, who had FBI printed on their uniforms and gear, were looking for four people in the city who authorities believe were involved in the drug ring.
A man who was wearing a red T-shirt and blue jean shorts, whose name was not released by authorities Thursday, was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Residents said SWAT team buses and unmarked cars, all of which had Pennsylvania license plates, roared down the street to 1766 Arthur Drive N.W. at about 7:45 a.m. Agents ordered everyone in the home to come outside with their hands up, and they complied.
At about 8:30 a.m., about 10 agents with assault rifles entered the home. About a half hour later, they emerged, and a box of goods was taken from the home.
Neighbors said the suspected drug activity was taking place at the home for some time. One neighbor also said the man in the red shirt had two pit bulls in his backyard, but didn't know the man's name.
Margaret Philbin, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh, said the case has not yet been unsealed so no details would be available.
A search of police records showed officers had been called to the home twice in the last two years, one of those times being because someone found lost property. In the other call, police reported that a man they arrested on the charge of domestic violence at first blocked officers' attempts to go inside the home to check on a woman with scratches on her face and marks on her neck.
The man eventually was convicted of domestic violence even though woman did not cooperate with prosecutors.