PHILADELPHIA—Luis Manuel Gomez Rodriguez, 37, and Jose Antonio Rosario Reyes, 55, both of the Dominican Republic, with local residences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are charged in a four count indictment with conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin, possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin within 1,000 feet of the Abraham Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking felony, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The indictment charges that Gomez Rodriguez and Rosario Reyes possessed with intent to distribute approximately 12 kilograms of heroin at a residence on Battersby Street in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia, as well as a loaded 9 mm handgun and extensive drug trafficking and packaging paraphernalia on October 22, 2015.

According to the indictment, the named defendants were members of a drug organization that received, prepared and packaged multi-kilogram quantities of heroin for street sale and distribution in Philadelphia. The organization used the premises at 7563 Battersby Street in Philadelphia, as a stash house for concealing and storing kilogram quantities of heroin, as a location to cut, prepare and package heroin for street sale in Philadelphia, as well as a place to store proceeds from drug sales and to maintain records from those sales.

The indictment charges that the organization concealed inside 7563 Battersby Street premises multi-kilogram quantities of heroin intended for cutting and packaging, placing the kilograms of heroin inside pieces of furniture containing hidden compartments. It is further charged that the organization employed multiple workers on a periodic basis to mill, prepare, cut and package heroin for street sale and maintained in the basement of the premises extensive paraphernalia, including strainers, grinders, presses, scales, a bucket, ziplock bags, glassine envelopes and two large ziplock bags containing cutting substances, all of which were for use in the cutting and packaging of heroin for street sale. The indictment further charges that, on October 22, 2015, at the time of a warrant-authorized search of the 7563 Battersby Street premises, Luis Manuel Gomez Rodriguez and Jose Antonio Rosario Reyes, both workers in the drug organization, possessed inside the residence approximately 12 kilograms of heroin, which were found concealed in compartments inside two pieces of furniture, a 9 mm Kel-Tech Luger handgun loaded with 7 live rounds of ammunition, approximately $79,286 in United States currency, and a significant amount of heroin trafficking paraphernalia and packaging material.

If convicted, Luis Manuel Gomez Rodriguez and Jose Antonio Rosario Reyes each face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, an effective mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, lifetime supervised release, at least five years’ supervised release, a fine of $30,250,000, and a $400 special assessment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph T. Labrum, III.