Ligonier Valley police seize 30 bricks of suspected heroin during traffic stop

Ligonier Valley police seized 30 bricks of suspected heroin during a traffic stop on Thursday and arrested a Somerset County man, according to investigators.

Authorities got a tip Thursday that a large amount of drugs would be moving east on Route 30 through the Ligonier area in a Chevrolet Cruze, according to court papers. Police spotted the car at 8:15 p.m. with a female driver and passenger Xavier Todd Kenyon, 20, of Jenner Township, at the intersection of Routes 30 and 711.

The car sped off on Route 711 and onto a few side roads before getting back onto Route 711, according to court papers. Police conducted a traffic stop after they said they spotted items hanging from the rear view mirror and found Kenyon was not wearing shoes.

A police dog indicated drugs were present on the passenger side of the door, police said. On Slater Road, police said the animal found a pair of sandals and a bag of suspected drugs. The size of the sandals matched the size that Kenyon wears, according to court papers.

In the bag officers reported finding about 1,500 stamp bags of suspected heroin.

Kenyon is charged with drug offenses. He was arraigned Friday morning and was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $300,000 bail. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing was set for May 7.

The female driver had not been charged.

Kenyon is awaiting sentencing in Somerset County court on a 2020 case filed by county detectives, according to online court records. He pleaded guilty April 19 to unsworn falsification to authorities and driving on a suspended license.