Two suspected drug dealers are charged after detectives found pounds of marijuana during separate raids in Warwick Township.
Lancaster County Drug Task Force detectives raided homes on Cardinal Road and Laurie Lane after investigations, including surveillance operations, of suspected drug trafficking.
Detectives seized 8 pounds from one home - believed to be the biggest seizure of its kind from a Lititz-area home in years.
Charged are:
- Steven P. Steinberg, 30, 400 block of Cardinal Road; possession with intent to deliver, and drug paraphernalia.
- Brendan T. Reese, 20, first block of Laurie Lane: possession with intent to deliver, possession with intent to deliver Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC wax), drug paraphernalia.
On April 7, detectives raided Steinberg’s home and found 8 pounds of ‘high-grade” marijuana, packaging items, and $514 cash.
Detectives estimated the marijuana had a street value of about $3,500 per pound; about $28,000 for the 8 pounds.
Steinberg is free after hiring a bondsman to post $150,000 bail.
On March 10, detectives searched Reese’s home and found 2 pounds of high-grade marijuana – with similar value to what was seized from Steinberg’s home – along with 3 grams of THC wax and packaging materials. Detectives also found $1,312 cash.
Reese has a preliminary hearing Wednesday. He is free after hiring a bondsman to post $25,000 bail.
The detectives called both busts “major,” considering the quantities found and where they were found.
“Marijuana dealers, like heroin dealers, are trafficking illegal narcotics, and they won’t be spared in Drug Task Force operations,” District Attorney Craig Stedman said Tuesday. “The recent change in law regarding medical marijuana does not render the substance harmless, and changes nothing about our approach to dealers.”
Investigators have found no evidence that the two men were in an enterprise together.
They both dealt primarily in the Lititz area, according to the detectives. Some of the marijuana was brought in from Philadelphia.
Steinberg and Reese are presumed innocent.
Lancaster County Drug Task Force detectives work under District Attorney Stedman.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright