5 Arrested, $200K In Heroin Seized In Drug Bust: MCPO

Five people were arrested and $200,000 in heroin was seized as part of a six-month narcotics investigation in Mercer County, Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri announced on Tuesday.

Daquan Baylor, 26, stands accused of transporting large amounts of heroin from Philadelphia into Mercer County so it could be sold, Onofri said. He and four Philadelphia residents were arrested following the execution of several search warrants in two states last week.

The investigation was handled by the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control, and Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA 4.

On April 3, detectives saw 25-year-old Cristian Baez-Belliard leave a home on Tampa Street in Philadelphia with a large item under his jacket, Onofri said. He got into a silver Nissan Sentra, and detectives followed him to Suburban Plaza on Scotch Road in Ewing.

There, Baez-Belliard met up with Baylor, who arrived in a white Nissan Sentra, Onofri said. After watching an alleged drug transaction, detectives arrested both men. Detectives then obtained warrants to search both cars.

In Baylor’s car, detectives said they found 150 bricks of heroin inside a plastic bag. They also found a hidden compartment they believe is used to hide drugs and money, but it was empty. In Baez-Belliard’s car, detectives said they found $20,980 in cash in a plastic bag. That car also had a hidden compartment, according to detectives.

A search of Baylor’s Country Lane home in Ewing revealed $2,800 in cash and seven suspected prescription Percocet pills, detectives said. They also found him in possession of $218.

They were both charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession with the intent to distribute. The prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to detain Baylor. Baez-Belliard was released pending future court proceedings

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General then executed a search warrant at the Tampa Street home Baez-Belliard was seen leaving, and said it discovered a heroin mill being run out of the home.

They said they found 819 grams of suspected heroin, approximately 15 bricks (750 bags) of suspected heroin, approximately 12 grams of fentanyl and numerous items utilized for packaging and distributing heroin.

Jonathan Nunez-Cordero, 25, Armando Santos, 20, and Yoncarlo Nunez-Cordero, 21, were all arrested at the home. They were all charged with numerous narcotic-related offenses and lodged in a Pennsylvania jail pending future court proceedings.

The approximate street value of the seized heroin is $196,800. The prescription pills are valued at $210 and the fentanyl $720. The total money seized was $23,998.

“As the opioid addiction crisis continues to escalate across the country, I want these drug dealers to be on notice that we are going to fight in Mercer County,” Onofri said. “We are going to use every possible avenue to respond to the heroin epidemic and it is through cooperative investigations like this that we can unite with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to stop the flow of poison into our communities.”

The attached image of Daquan Baylor was provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office