A joint investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police, Pottsville City Police and the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force ended on Friday when officers took Rahman Quran Herrera, 44, of New York City, New York, into custody on drug trafficking charges.

The investigation had been underway since November, 2021, with Herrera having been arraigned on numerous drug-dealing charges on different dates.

He was arraigned on Friday before Magisterial District Judge James K. Riley relating to charges filed against him on Jan. 6. The charges include: five counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. The drugs included methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, fluorofentanyl, and heroin.

Riley set bail at $300,000, which Herrera failed to post and the defendant was committed to the Schuylkill County Prison, Pottsville.

His arrest culminated an investigation of Herrera’s drug-trafficking activities that began 16 months ago, police said.

They said during the month of July 2022, 640 grams of methamphetamine having a street value of $32,000 were obtained from Herrera.

The following month, police executed a search warrant on a residence Herrera utilized in Pottsville, seizing 24 grams of cocaine with a street value of $2,000; 49 grams of methamphetamine worth $2,400 on the street; and approximately 80 grams of substances containing fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and heroin valued at $16,000 on the street.

On Aug. 25, 2022, Herrera was taken into custody and charged in the office of Magisterial District Judge Andrew J. Serina with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility. He arraigned and remained to jail in lieu of $200,000, which police said he later posted and was released from custody.