Five people from Pottsville and Port Carbon have been arrested for selling 1,000 fentanyl pills and one pound of methamphetamine each week in Schuylkill County and the surrounding region.

They are Said Rivera, 41; Chris A. Hall, 39; and Amanda M. Tice, 40, all of Pottsville, and Donalea R. Turolis, 41, and Joseph C. Weikel, 36, both of Port Carbon.

Turolis and Weikel admitted selling the drugs from their house at 211 1st. St., Port Carbon, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by state narcotics agent Thomas Sedor with District Judge David A. Placko of Port Carbon.

Rivera operated a thrift store at 51 Ann St., Pottsville, that he used to move the drugs, according to the affidavit.

Hall was Rivera’s distribution partner, and Tice, Hall’s girlfriend, also helped distribute the drugs, the affidavit says.

Rivera also had Turolis and Weikel take firearms from his house at 809 W. Norwegian St., Pottsville, to keep at their Port Carbon house.

Rivera also admitted to having thousands of dollars at his house at 1757 West End Ave., Pottsville. Law enforcement found $6,730 there.

Hall sold fentanyl from the thrift shop and Rivera’s houses, the affidavit says.

Each person has been charged with corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and fentanyl, criminal conspiracy to commit these offenses, possession of controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Rivera is a felon not to possess a firearm and will also be charged with that offense.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Christie Bonesch.

The arrests conclude an investigation by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Bureau of Narcotics Investigation; Pottsville and Port Carbon police, and other local law enforcement.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a news release that the people operated the drug trafficking ring over the past year.

Rivera was the ring leader, and Hall, Tice, Turolis and Weikel were dealers.

Law enforcement officers executed search warrants at various locations associated with the defendants in Schuylkill County.

The searches resulted in the seizure of about 368 doses of methamphetamine, about 2,300 doses of fentanyl, two bags of fentanyl pills (about 55 grams), about 746 individually packaged bags each containing fentanyl, four rifles, one pistol, $8,052 in cash, several digital scales, and packaging materials. Additional fentanyl, paraphernalia and ammunition were found in a search of a car used in this drug operation.

“Fighting the war on drugs in Schuylkill County is not a singular effort. Collaboration and cooperation among all law enforcement entities and agencies is the key to success,” Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael A. O’Pake said in the news release.

“I am honored and proud to welcome Josh Shapiro, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, to Schuylkill County so as to ensure Schuylkill County residents that we are working and fighting every day to keep you safe from the crime that drug dealers and users try to bring into our County. The District Attorney’s Office of Schuylkill County thanks Mr. Shapiro, our Sheriff’s Office, state and local law enforcement, and federal authorities for your commitment to winning the war on drugs,” he said.

Schuylkill County was one of the first counties to join the Office of Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative. Since joining in 2020, they have referred 27 individuals into treatment. Schuylkill County is also set to receive $7.9 million as part of the national opioid settlement. The first checks are on track to be distributed in late spring,” Shapiro said.

The Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation agents out of Allentown have established strong partnerships with the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and many of the local police departments, specifically Pottsville Bureau of Police. As a result, agents executed 20 search warrants resulting in the seizure of 14 firearms, approximately $40,000 cash, 2,489 grams of methamphetamine; cocaine; heroin; marijuana and various fentanyl pills in 2021, and made 10 arrests, Shapiro said.

Due to its low cost and high potency, fentanyl has increasingly replaced heroin as the dominant opioid in Pennsylvania. In 2021, the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation seized more fentanyl than in the previous four years combined, while seizures of heroin declined, he said.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing fentanyl replace heroin as the dominant opioid here in Pennsylvania, because of its low cost – as little as 79 cents a dose,” Shapiro said. “We are also seeing fentanyl contaminating other drugs, sometimes at lethal doses. We will not sit idly by when dealers traffic poison across Pennsylvania and try to profit from devastating our communities. My office, along with our strong law enforcement partners like (Schuylkill County) District Attorney Mike O’Pake, will continue to hold those accountable who profit from drug trafficking.”