Heroin Bust in Bloomsburg
According to the website “BloomUToday.com,” on the morning of Saturday March 29, 2014 the Bloomsburg Police Department along with the Columbia/Montour SWAT Team raided a Bloomsburg home for heroin. The teams entered the home on 142 W. Main St. with a warrant at 7:00 a.m. and took five men into custody. None of the men were fellow Bloomsburg University students.
Ever since I was a freshman living in Elwell Hall, I have heard rumors and stories about methamphetamine labs in Berwick. I have also heard rumors ranging from Berwick being the meth capital of the world, to Berwick citizens teaching their kids to cook meth so they wouldn’t get in trouble. Now the rumors will begin about Bloomsburg being the home of heroin. We as students have sort of image in our heads of what Bloomsburg residents look and act like (not saying that is a good thing), and these allegations against them aren’t helping their case at all. A student, who requested their identity be concealed, said , “This didn’t surprise me whatsoever, I’ve heard of more and more people using heroin lately, I knew something like this was bound to happen.”
However, the heroin house being on Main Street in Bloomsburg is still not comforting. Heroin was being made quite literally right under our noses and we were oblivious. Is making heroin becoming more popular? What influenced these men to learn to and begin making heroin? The only thing I could think of is that they are really big “Breaking Bad” fans and thought they could be Walter White of heroin in a college town.
Four out of the five men who were taken into custody were arrested on warrants connected to the investigation conducted by the Bloomsburg Police Department, the Columbia County Task Force, and the Pennsylvania State Police. The men include Jose Roldan (27), Mark Williams (30), Shamel Thomas (29), and Devon Seier (22). All four men are in currently Columbia County Prison with bail set at $100,000 each.
Hopefully this comes as a lesson to all people of Bloomsburg, students and residents, that making heroin is unacceptable. These four men are going to be in prison for a pretty long time, and I would hate to see that happen to one of my classmates or citizens over something so as stupid as making an illegal drug as serious as heroin.
Written by Michael DeVries, Tia Franzone, and Kristen Hatton
