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Feds: Drug traffickers moved bulk amounts of heroin in Philly

Four men are in federal custody charged in allegedly distributing more than 1,100 pounds of heroin in the region from a City Line Ave. apartment tower.

Four men are in federal custody charged in allegedly distributing more than 1,100 pounds of heroin in the region from a City Line Ave. apartment tower.

The alleged drug traffickers, now being held without bail, brought the narcotics to Philadelphia in the hidden compartments of cars and in sealed cans. The drugs were then repackaged and doled out in bulk to drug dealers throughout the region.

According to an indictment unsealed this morning, the group was comprised of four men who were living in the city: Joseph Torres, 31;  Bertin Sanchez, 29, a Mexican citizen;  Euddy Izquirdo, 31 and Frank Felix-Herrera, 49, both citizens of the Dominican Republic.

Torres, using the alias, "Ramon Laboy," rented an apartment on City Line Avenue to use as a stash location for the heroin, which the group sold for about $61,000 a kilogram.

According to the indictment, in early June, Sanchez provided Felix-Herrera two kilos of the heroin on credit and an additional 21 kilos to Izquierdo.

Sanchez was spotted entering the stash house at the Presidential City Apartments on July 2, and left with a shopping bag that he put in the trunk of a VW Jetta, the indictment states. Two weeks later, Sanchez caught sight of undercover agents near the apartment and attempted to elude them with "erratic counter surveillance " driving techniques. Agents found the Jetta in the city's Hunting Park section and lay in wait, according to the indictment.

The next day, Izquierdo drove Sanchez to pick up the car. Agents swept in, arresting them both. They discovered Inquierdo was in possession of over $100,000 in alleged drug proceeds.

The same day, agents arrested Torres at an apartment building on the 7800 block of Roosevelt Blvd. that served as the organization's bank. In apartment No. 36, agents confiscated nearly $20,000 in cash. Inside a hidden compartment of Torres's black Saturn, agents discovered an additional $90,000, according to the indictment.

An investigation is continuing.