Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced on Thursday the arrest of more than 57 individuals associated with a powerful drug trafficking operation in Kensington.

The nine-month investigation effectively dismantled the Alameda Drug Trafficking Organization, which pulled in more than $5 million in revenue annually through its illegal sales of such drugs as fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine, among others.

“The investigation focused on building a case against the leadership of the Alameda Drug Trafficking Organization, as well as their key suppliers in both heroin and cocaine,” Krasner explained.

“The extensive criminal enterprise involved here was clearly a threat to public safety, profiting off the misery of addiction brought to our city by the opioid crisis,” he continued. “These were not simply people suffering from addiction, selling a few bags on the corner to feed their addiction. These are drug dealers, whose job it was to sell drugs, and they sold a lot of it.”

The intersection of Kip and Cambria streets in Kensington served as the hub of the Alameda drug ring’s operations.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, between July 1st, 2017 and July 1st, 2018, Philadelphia police made more than 700 arrests within a four-block radius of the Kip and Cambria intersection, of which 100 resulted in felony charges. Over this same time period, there were more than 300 reported hospital cases in this area, 75 percent of which were drug overdose related.

City Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez thanked the DA’s office and law enforcement, but stressed that there is still much work to be done.

“For the residents of Kensington that I represent, I can tell you on their behalf, thank you for working smart, thank you for renewing our faith that smart policing, targeted investigations and collaboration could lead to this type of dismantling,” Quiñones-Sanchez said.

“Will this solve all the problems? Absolutely not. But we have to get buy-in from the community, and this is a great first step in demonstrating to folks on behalf of the DA’s office and law enforcement were up to the task,” she continued.

The three leaders of the drug ring, German “June” Alameda, Jeremiah “Chino” Figueroa and Orlando “O/Oskie” Moran, face nearly 689 criminal charges. These include running a corrupt organization, possession with intent to deliver heroin/fentanyl, and possession of illegal firearms.

Krasner attributed the investigation’s success to its focus on the key players running the drug ring.

“This investigation was different, and it was different partly because it was initiated at the beginning of this administration consistent with one of the philosophies of this administration, which is that judicial drug enforcement should not focus on people at the bottom of the pyramid whose actions are basically driven by addiction. It should focus on people who are professional drug dealers who represent players in a drug organization,” Krasner said.

“We should not be focusing on the tip of one tentacle, we should be going for the entire octopus, and consistent with that philosophy, this investigation began in January of 2018, and we are seeing its, frankly, very successful result today.”

The investigation was a collaborative effort between the DA office’s Dangerous Drug Offenders Unit (DDOU), the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA), the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, the Delaware County Detectives and Pennsylvania State Police.