Baltimore Sun

Search the Baltimore County community newspaper archives

>> Click here to search for stories published AFTER 2011

>> Use this search box to find stories published prior to 2011.

Note: All Words is a more strict search. Implied operator is "AND."
Ex: Charles Dickens"

news

home

Harford, Cecil attractive for drug market

By Kirsten Dize

Posted 4/03/09

Several arrests made by the Cecil County Drug Task Force late last month prompt the question, what kind of drug influence is Harford County seeing?

Like in Cecil County, higher profit margins are available in Harford County for drug dealers moving up and down the I-95 and Route 40 corridors and out of big urban areas such as Baltimore and New York City.

The lure of bigger paydays causes some drug organizations to seek contacts in other cities and causes outside organizations to target the area, according to Lt. Lee Dunbar, watch commander for the Harford County task force whose main focus is narcotics investigations.

Harford County has recently seen an increased trend in drug-related influences from New York City.

“In the last few months we have seen more of an influx from New York, not only from their drugs, but from their gang members as well,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar cites location as a major reason for the trend. Harford County is easily accessed from Route 40 and I-95.

“It’s mainly because of that corridor that we’re on,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar also said the migration of drug trafficking is nothing new.

“It’s always been that way, we’ve always had the influences of Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York,” Dunbar explained.

Cecil and Harford counties offer higher profits and the protection of rural back roads.

Whether the benefits are real or merely perceived, they seem to be enough to attract the migration of drug traffic.

The drug task force recently closed a month-long investigation into a heroin distribution network, according to a press release from the task force.

Two Baltimore men allegedly drove from Baltimore to Cecil County every day to distribute heroin from rented cars. The suspected drug deals took place mostly on county back roads, according to the release.

On March 20, Raymond Vernon Banks Jr., 39, of Baltimore, and Wahid Samad Pittman, 32, of Baltimore, were arrested in connection with the drug ring after a planned traffic stop. Banks had 69 bags of heroin stuffed between his buttocks at the time of the stop, according to the release.

People from as far away as New York and Baltimore have been coming to Cecil County to distribute a variety of drugs, the release states.

This trend applies to Harford County as well. It is not out of the ordinary for homegrown Harford County organizations to travel to New York or Baltimore, according to Dunbar.

In these cities, they find cheaper prices on drugs and bring them back to Harford County to sell, Dunbar said.

“Word is out that Cecil County is a viable drug market with less chance for violence and a good opportunity for higher profit margin,” states the release.