Five Arrested for Running Alleged Meth Operation

by Bob O’Brien

Staff Reporter

Five people were arrested on June 23 in West Mt. Airy for allegedly participating in a crystal methamphetamine operation. Warren Layre, James McIntyre, Cecelia Silverwood, Brian Timer and Thomas Basara were arrested at 529-35 W. Sedgwick Street for intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, which is a felony charge.

Police seized $181,200 worth of crystal meth the next day, along with $4,000 in cash and three firearms.

On July 13, police returned to the location and found an additional $81,900 worth of the drug in  the garage of the building. Steroids and a large amount of fireworks were also seized.  Law enforcement officers recovered $355,244 in cash from Layre and nearly 20 firearms from his home in Conshohocken. The total amount collected in the case was more than $389,000.

As of now, a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15 for the suspects, according to Assistant District Attorney with the Dangerous Drug-Offender Unit, Lynne O’Brien.  Silverwood has been released on bail, but all other suspects await the hearing.

O’Brien will prosecute the case, and said that each offender is facing a minimum of five to 10 years in prison, the mandatory sentence for cases involving guns and drugs.

Police have stated that the operation was not an active meth laboratory. Instead, police said, it was a distribution center, and the suspects were typical mid-level drug trade employees.

Officials with the Narcotics Field Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department said last week that more individuals could be arrested in connection with initial drug bust.

While many residents of the block were surprised to find out that a drug operation was going on there at all, long-time Mt. Airy resident and community activist Yvonne Haskins, executive director of West Mt. Airy Neighbors, was not.

“That property has just been sitting there and blighting that area for years,” she said of the property where the drugs were seized.