Pocono News Section

Kingston Drug Bust

Kingston Drug Bust - Friday, October 3, 2008 at 12:13PM EST

Friday, Oct 3, 2008 @ 12:13am EST

Kingston, Luzerne County -

They were selling bags of heroin with the name "Obama-09" stamped on them. Much of their sales were done in wide open public places. Investigators learned about the operation when they set up shop near the home of the police chief.

This is the heroin being sold on the streets of Luzerne County . You are reading right, "Obama 09" is stamped on the bags. Five people are under arrest. Christoper Allan and Derek Reich were the ring leaders, so say police. They and three women based their operation at this home at 9 Ross Street in Kingston . It is not far from the home of Police Chief Keith Keiper.

Kingston Police Chief Keith Keiper says, “I was walking my dog in the neighborhood. A neighbor came up to me and said there is a lot of activity at this residence. I passed it on to our unit and they started their investigation. It all came back from neighbors talking.”

Undercover buys took place in broad daylight at public places like the parking lot behind Taco Bell on Wyoming Avenue . Investigators say these dealers were cocky and thought they were untouchable, selling some $10,000 worth of Obama bags of heroin each week. These alleged dealers shared the wealth. Their product was called “Obama 09”, but on their front porch they had a McCain sign.

Lorraine Rizley lives across the street from the drug home. She says, “It scares me to death, scares me to death. I didn't know that it was that close really. That's too close for comfort for me. Lots of little kids around. I'm very surprised.”

This investigation is continuing. Eyewitness News is told more arrests are expected. Investigators say drug dealers have to market their product so they try to give it a catchy name. In this case they used "Obama-09".