{"id":18134,"date":"2016-11-18T12:25:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T17:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=18134"},"modified":"2016-11-18T12:25:25","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T17:25:25","slug":"cache-of-drugs-weapons-discovered-in-coatesville-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=18134","title":{"rendered":"Cache of drugs, weapons discovered in Coatesville home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Man sought in connection with activities at the home<\/em><\/h2>\n
\"Ronald<\/a>

Ronald Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2014 A city man is being sought in connection to a cache of drugs and weapons discovered in his Valley Road home after police and other law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant there\u00a0on Nov. 11.<\/p>\n

City police said Friday that they found “large quantities” of drugs, five firearms, and money\u00a0after executing a search warrant at the home of Ronald Smith. Police said Smith is still at large and a fugitive. Police said they were able to get a search warrant based on observations of apparent drug dealing out of the home.<\/p>\n

“Through <\/span>good investigative work and utilizing a joint team approach involving the Borough of Parkesburg Police Department, the Chester County Sheriff s K-9 Unit, and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, the City of Coatesville Police Department’s Vice Unit was able to remove a sizable quantity of dangerous drugs and firearms from the streets of Coatesville,” city Police Chief Jack Laufer said in a statement. “<\/span>The fight against violent crime <\/span>most often associated with the illicit drug trade requires<\/span> a<\/span> team approach not only within<\/span> law enforcement,<\/span> but also with the community we serve. Together we can bring about positive change within the City of Coatesville.”<\/p>\n

Authorities said they found heroin, cocaine, and crystal meth<\/span>amphetamine in the home. The firearms, police said, included guns with a 30-round magazine, an extended barrel, and an obliterated serial number<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The <\/span>police found the unholy trinity of guns, drugs, and money in the defendant’s house, said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan in a statement. “This defen<\/span>dant was poisoning the Coatesville community and was a threat to law enforcement. The <\/span>streets in Coatesville will be a little safer when we <\/span>get him into custody.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Police said that they discovered that Smith’s\u00a0residence to be\u00a0heavily\u00a0 <\/span>fortified\u00a0<\/span>and contained surveillance equipment in it they say is consistent with drug dealing. The front door was reinforced with a steel security bar. There were surveillance cameras both outside and inside the residence, as well as a monitor showing live video feed from the cameras. The defendant’s personal\u00a0 <\/span>belongings\u00a0 <\/span>and\u00a0 <\/span>correspondence\u00a0 <\/span>were present throughout the residence.<\/p>\n

Inside the residence, police said they found large quantities of cocaine\u00a0 <\/span>(both powder and crack), heroin, crystal methamphetamine, prescription\u00a0 <\/span>pills,\u00a0 <\/span>and\u00a0 <\/span>marijuana.\u00a0 <\/span>The home also reportedly included digital scales to weigh\u00a0<\/span>drugs,\u00a0 <\/span>plastic\u00a0<\/span>baggies\u00a0<\/span>for packaging, and a cutting agent to increase the weight of the drugs. There also was a safe for storing drugs and cash present in the\u00a0<\/span>house.<\/p>\n

Police said they also located and seized numerous firearms in the home, including: a long rifle with a scope, a revolver with an obliterated serial number, a .357 magnum revolver with an extended barrel, a Tec-9 semiautomatic firearm, and a Colt .380 caliber semiautomatic firearm with high capacity magazines.<\/p>\n

Smith\u00a0is prohibited from possessing firearms under Pennsylvania\u00a0<\/span>law, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Smith faces charges of\u00a0possession with intent to distribute drugs, firearms offenses, and related charges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Man sought in connection with activities at the home COATESVILLE \u2014 A city man is being sought in connection to a cache of drugs and weapons discovered in his Valley Road home after police and other law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant there\u00a0on Nov. 11. City police said Friday that they found “large quantities” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5655,185,6269,488],"class_list":["post-18134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-arrest","tag-coatesville","tag-featured","tag-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18135,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18134\/revisions\/18135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}