Seven individuals allegedly involved in a drug and gun trafficking ring connected to the fentanyl overdose deaths of four people have been indicted by a federal grand jury, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 12.
The group is accused of using dating apps to target individuals seeking prostitutes in order to rob them of various items including cash, credit cards, cell phones, drugs, and guns. The gang, known as the “fentanyl robbery gang,” operates across several states from New Hampshire to Virginia and has ties to New York gangs.
To incapacitate their victims, the gang reportedly offered them drugs laced with fentanyl without their knowledge. If the victims refused, the group would find other ways to administer the drugs forcefully.
If the fentanyl did not have an immediate effect, the gang would resort to violent methods such as home-invasion robberies at gunpoint, threats, beatings, and aggravated assault.
The charges against them include conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death and serious bodily injury, distributing fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, brandishing firearms during drug trafficking, kidnapping, and aggravated identity theft.
The indictment has linked four fentanyl overdose deaths to the activities of this gang, including three in Pennsylvania and one in New Hampshire.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd K. Hinkley and Luisa Honora Berti.
The suspects named in the indictment are Amanda Marie Correa, Robert Andrew Barnes, Christine Deann DiCarlo, Shaqare Jaymont Blackwell, Shakur Serafin Brownstein, Dylan Wilson Small, and Samual Jordan.
The investigation was a joint effort involving the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, U.S. Marshals Service in Scranton, District Attorney Offices in several Pennsylvania counties, Portsmouth Police Department in New Hampshire, New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and other state and local law enforcement agencies.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities search for more suspects and victims. Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 570-344-2404.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
