Posted on 04/02/2026 4:58:48 AM PDT by Libloather
Officials in Philadelphia have dismantled a massive drug ring operating out of a sham coffee shop, run largely by longtime, senior figures in the criminal world, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Sunday.
The sweeping takedown, dubbed "Operation Cocaine and Coffee," was launched and primarily targeted a storefront known as Cumberland Coffee and Snacks, where authorities say the second floor was used to cook and package crack cocaine for street-level distribution.
At least 17 suspected members of the operation were arrested, many described by officials as well past middle age and deeply entrenched in the drug trade.
Authorities said the group, allegedly run by 56-year-old Lewis Alexander, plagued the community with "absolute harm" for more than a decade and is believed to have ties to violent crime.
"Well, today, North Philadelphia's, the Lewis Alexander drug trafficking organization, they have a new turf and it's inside a correctional facility," Sunday said.
"Some of the defendants here are in their 50s, 60s and 70s," he added. "Many of these defendants have been at this a very long time. They were menaces to society, to people and families who just want to live free without concern of violence and crime in their everyday life."
While the raid centered in North Philadelphia, the operation’s reach reportedly extended well beyond the coffee shop, with officials serving warrants at roughly 30 locations across Philadelphia, Delaware County and New Jersey.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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At least it wasn’t named, ‘The Driking Center’...which I half expected after seeing the suspects.
Don’t bother waking Yogi up.
I went to a crack house the other day. They were running a coffee shop!
The coffee shop owner very likely failed to pay the Philadelphia mayor and DA the weekly protection money.
Your not going to tell me those scumbags in Philadelphia actually care about crime. /spit
Best Coffee EVER!!
Crack is behind the times. All those arrested are old and unable to keep up
Something about retirement comes to mind..... But SSI is a better bet I think. Old guys on crack, could it get weirder?
Oh! it did! And caffeine on a school night... sigh...
I went to a crack house the other day. They were running a coffee shop!
********************************************************
I hate it when they do that. Folks should stick to what they do best.
Sounds like nobody told the store owner he had to pay the crooked government for their protection.
Major crime in Philadelphia? AG of Pennsylvania? What of the DA of Philadelphia? Wasn’t he going on about his jurisdiction last week?
Those wacky far left Philadelphians.
Sounds like a scene out of The Wire - where a huge theft and money laundering operation was run out of a run-down coffee shop, lorded over by an ordinary-looking regular customer called “The Greek.”
At least they spelled your name right on the cup when they handed you your order.
Philly feels “off,” even when around the whole Liberty Bell area.
I’ve walked it multiple times, and it feels like crime is living around you, but the sunlight keeps it at bay.
It’s a place to not be in the evening. Chester and an area immediately northeast of that downtown area are particularly dangerous and you can’t walk there, at all.
You do see druggies wandering, bent over 90 degrees, in the day. It’s disgusting and you marvel at the people who are on the sidewalk, maneuvering around these zombies. It’s women and men and they can’t talk.
The Reader’s Market is always a great place to get food, though.
I knew that sugar was numbingly hyper
Middle top row, dressed in green ---
That's a "Gloria"?
That's a "Tammika"?
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