Two arrested on drug charges
Courtesy of McDonald Police Department McDonald police seized 800 Xanax pills from an Oakdale man’s car Wednesday.
Cash and Xanax pills were seized as part of a drug bust Wednesday in McDonald.
Courtesy of McDonald Police Department The drugs were being sent to the Oakdale home from overseas locatinos, including Pakistan.
Taroah Hawkins
Dominic Fricchione
Tips to McDonald police from residents about possible drug activity in their neighborhood resulted in the arrest Wednesday of two men on drug charges, one of whom is suspected of having prescription anxiety drugs mailed from other countries.
Dominic Jose Fricchione, 23, of 209 E. Lincoln Ave., McDonald, and Taroah Tithyah Pal Hawkins, 20, of 555 Highland Ave., Oakdale, were jailed Wednesday. Police initially served a search warrant at Fricchione’s home and later took Hawkins into custody after additional investigation revealed his involvement in a buy-bust operation.
The investigation began about two months ago after police started receiving complaints prescription drugs were being sold from the East Lincoln residence, said officer Bradley Resnik, who filed charges against the pair.
“We got complaints about a heavy amount of people and vehicles coming and going,” Resnik said. “We were able to verify the foot traffic through surveillance details. That led to two undercover purchases of Xanax from Fricchione at the apartment that led to us getting a search warrant.”
McDonald police and detectives from the Washington County Drug Task Force and Cecil Township served the warrant at Fricchione’s apartment Wednesday. Resnik said that they seized 66 Xanax pills, another 73 unknown white pills and $640. Court records show that he had been buying 100 to 500 Xanax pills each month, reportedly selling the drug and making between $600 and $5,000 in profit.
Police also received additional information about Hawkins’ involvement, set up an undercover purchase from him in McDonald and then took him into custody.
Hawkins was found with 300 Xanax pills in his pants pocket along with $624. Police went to his Oakdale home and were given permission to search his bedroom. Resnik said that multiple packages were found with foreign addresses, including one from Pakistan.
Resnik said that Hawkins was reportedly placing the orders for the Xanax through a chatroom-style website.
“You can purchase whatever you want and have it shipped by mail to an address,” Resnik said.
Payment them comes out of an online payment account when the package is delivered, the officer added. He said the site is reportedly secured and the internet provider addresses are scrambled to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Police also obtained a warrant to search the vehicle Hawkins drove to McDonald. Inside they found eight wrapped packages, each containing 100 Xanax pills.
Resnik said about 1,000 Xanax pills would be purchased for about $2,500 and then resold for $6 to $15 each.
“This was a cold, hard case supporting community-oriented policing,” Resnik said. “We got information from the community that led to these arrests and the seizure of a large amount of prescription pills.”
Both men were arraigned before District Judge Gary Havelka on charges of possession and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia. Hawkins is also charged with criminal use of a communications facility. Both were placed in Washington County Jail on $20,000 bond. They are scheduled for a June 22 preliminary hearing before District Judge Traci McDonald.