South Hill Home 'Taken Over' By Drug Dealers, Owner Tells Police

SOUTH HILL, WA - The Pierce County SWAT team raided a South Hill home Thursday morning as part of an investigation into heroin dealing. Inside, eight people were living in squalor; mold was growing all over and the home that was literally rotting.

The home, located along the 12000 block of 163rd Court East, is owned by a 72-year-old man who told police, "[the] house has been taken over by drug addicts for several years and he can't get them to leave."

Inside the home police found: 11.3 grams of heroin (heroin can cost $200 per gram or more on the street); Xanax; Oxycodone; drug paraphernalia including pipes, needles, foil, and baggies; and two bulletproof vests.

Police also recovered a handgun that had been reported stolen from a vehicle in Puyallup at the beginning of October.

Pierce County building inspectors will be visiting the home to check for code violations, the sheriff's office reported.

Image via Pierce County Sheriff's Office