The Weymouth Street Drug Trafficking Organization ran “one of the most prolific drug blocks in the city” from Jan. 2016 to Oct. 2025, distributing dangerous narcotics such as cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, according to the indictment charges. The organization’s trafficking activities effectively created an “open-air drug market where illegal narcotics are sold every day and at all hours,” read a release by the Department of Justice.

Following a raid on Friday, 24 suspected members of the group were arrested, according to reports. Eight people were already in custody, and another remained at large. As a result, 33 people were indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and dozens of related offenses, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

FBI Director Kash Patel touted the successful operation during a press conference announcing the historic indictments on Friday. The indictments came a day after the FBI announced a sports betting crackdown involving National Basketball Association players and coaches.

“We have permanently removed a drug trafficking organization out of the streets of Philadelphia, and they’re going to stop pouring guns, chemicals, and drugs into our communities,” said Patel. “And our children are safer today.”

The Kensington section of Philadelphia has long been considered one of the worst hubs for illicit drug trafficking in the U.S., especially regarding the country’s opioid epidemic. The area earned the infamous moniker, “the Walmart of Heroin.” 

Patel explained the damage the organization caused in communities and the products they were accused of trafficking that “poisoned” Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

“Today, even more criminals are off the streets because of the diligent work of the FBI and our partners,” Patel said in a released statement. “Over 30 people have been charged for their alleged role in drug trafficking and dozens of other offenses. These individuals were charged with distributing fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine on one of the most prolific drug blocks in Philadelphia.” 

“They were members of a violent drug trafficking organization and used violence to enforce their territory and sell drugs that poison our city streets and community,” Patel said. The FBI will continue our work to put an end to drug trafficking and violence in our cities.”

Wayne Jacobs, the FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia office, commented on the brutality with which the Weymouth Street Drug Trafficking Organization ran their operations, relying on violence and intimidation, reported WPVI, a Philadelphia ABC affiliate.  

“The vast majority of our actions were concentrated right here in Kensington, where this organization devastated the community, fueled violence, and spread fear among residents for nearly a decade,” Jacobs said.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche warned of the consequences to organizations poisoning communities through drug trafficking. He spoke of holding criminals accountable while collaborating with state and local organizations to make the nation’s neighborhoods safer.

“Drug traffickers who poison our communities and enforce their territory through violence will face the full force of federal law,” said Blanche. “Working alongside our state and local partners, the Department of Justice will continue to dismantle these criminal networks, hold violent offenders accountable, and restore safety to neighborhoods that have suffered for far too long.”

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David Metcalf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, lauded the efforts of law enforcement of the FBI and hailed the “precision” of their actions on Friday. 

“And like a precision missile, it has been targeted for maximum impact where it needed to go… the heart of the opioid scourge here in Kensington,” said Metcalf.

“This indictment is, by defendant, the largest federal case of this century prosecuted by our office, and it attacks the very heart of the opioid crisis in the neighborhoods of Kensington,” Metcalf added. “We are committed to returning these neighborhoods to their residents and reclaiming them from drug dealers who profit from the misery of others.”