'Operation Lake Effect' drug raids sweep through the Alle-Kiski Valley

FBI agents, assisted by state and local police, conducted a wide-ranging series of drug raids in the Alle-Kiski Valley early Thursday.

According to residents who witnessed some of the raids, police activity was seen in the hours just before and after dawn in Arnold, Gilpin, New Kensington, Tarentum, Upper Burrell and Vandergrift.

Margaret Philbin, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman, said the raids were part of “Operation Lake Effect,” a year-long investigation targeting a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating throughout Western Pennsylvania, Northern Ohio, the southwestern United States and elsewhere in the country. Dozens were arrested.

Regionally, Philbin said raids also were conducted in Indiana County.

Federal, state and local law enforcement are scheduled to release more information during a news conference scheduled for Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

FBI agents were seen removing at least two boxes from a building on Fourth Avenue in Arnold on Thursday. A side window had been broken out.

A woman in a house across the street said it was still dark when she heard banging outside. She said she went to the back of her home because she was scared.

In the 1700 block of Kenneth Avenue in Arnold, resident Eric Sinclair said his wife woke up to flash-bang sounds followed by screaming and yelling.

On his home surveillance cameras, police were seen converging on a vehicle in the street and taking a man into custody, yelling at him to keep his hands up and to not move.

“Unfortunately, I knew it was going to happen,” he said.

Sinclair said he saw at least 20 officers — FBI, state police and others — in fatigues.

“They did a hell of a job,” he said.

Chief Chris Fabec of the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department confirmed his officers assisted the FBI with a raid in Gilpin.

“I can confirm on March 2, 2023, the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department assisted the FBI with serving a search warrant and arrest warrant along Evergreen Road. Any other information would need to be released by the FBI spokesperson,” Fabec said.

Chris Sefcheck, New Kensington-Arnold School District superintendent, said all schools in his district observed at two-hour delay Thursday because its “transportation service was interrupted due to police activity.”

He said the district wasn’t able to declare the delay until about 6:15 a.m., when they were informed of the expected raids.

In Vandergrift, Tommy Scanga, owner of Del Vecchio’s Sausage on Lowell Street, said he first read about an early-morning FBI raid in Facebook posts.

He said, over the past two weeks, he has noticed an increase in police presence, including an evening last week when he saw at least six cars at one residence.

“We’ve (Del Vecchio’s) been here 98 years, and it’s sad to see some of the residents that have moved in with illegal activity but the majority of residents are really good people,” Scanga said.

“I was born and raised in Vandergrift and makes me proud to see the police step it up.”

Vandergrift police Chief Joe Caporali said his officers were not involved in the raids.

His department’s “assistance was not requested,” Caporali said.

A resident the 400 block of East Seventh Avenue in Tarentum said she was already awake for the day when she heard a flash-bang outside her home about 6:15 a.m.

“I looked out my upstairs window and saw about five or six black cars with flashing blue and red lights outside,” she said.

She went outside her home briefly to investigate and said the police activity appeared to be at an apartment building next door and that officers were gone from the scene within about 30 minutes.

Only one of the residents in the six-unit building answered the door. The resident declined to speak about the raid saying, “I’m not one to be nosy.”