Mertens

An Altoona man is in Blair County Prison after his arrest Thursday on drug charges, which was followed by the seizure of an alleged kilogram of crack cocaine at his residence.

Quida S. Mertens, 53, of the 1000 block of East Atlantic Avenue was unable to post $200,000 cash bail, according to court documents.

The kilo found in Merten’s apartment is one of the Bureau of Narcotics Investigation’s largest crack seizures in the area in years, according to a state Attorney General’s spokesman and is illustrative of a resurgence of crack and powder cocaine here in the past year — after a decade of being less prevalent, according to Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks.

Officers working as part of a joint investigation by the AG’s office, the Centre County Drug Task Force and State College police arrested Mertens in his vehicle at the Grazierville interchange of I-99, after Mertens allegedly delivered cocaine to a seller in Tyrone — who in turn had sold some of it to a confidential informant, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The task force developed the case through a series of four increasingly large cocaine purchases by the CI from a West 15th Street, Tyrone, man — 3.5 grams for $200; 10 grams for $600; 15 grams for $800; and 28 grams for $1,400, according to the affidavit.

For all but the first buy, the transfer involved the Tyrone man contacting Mertens, who brought the cocaine from Altoona in his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Each time Mertens made such a delivery, the Tyrone man would enter Mertens’ vehicle briefly, then leave it and return to his apartment to hand over the cocaine to the CI, according to the affidavit.

Officers conducted searches of the CI before and after each encounter, conducted surveillance on the Tyrone residence and Mertens’ vehicle and home, field tested the alleged cocaine and pre-recorded identifying marks on the money the CI used to pay for the cocaine, all to ensure the integrity of the evidence produced, according to the affidavit.

Twice, officers obtained orders from Blair County Court to intercept audio and video communications between the CI and the Tyrone man, and starting with the second buy, they provided the CI with a recording device.

Ultimately, they obtained a search warrant for Mertens’ apartment, as well as the Tyrone man’s residence, according to the affidavit.

In addition to the kilo of crack, officers also found 91 grams of powdered cocaine in a backpack in Mertens’ apartment, according to the affidavit.

Mertens is charged with 10 felony counts of possession with intent to deliver. The AG’s office said the kilo of crack cocaine had a street value of $72,000, while the 91 grams of cocaine had a street value of $9,100.

Resurgence

Weeks isn’t sure why there has been more cocaine circulating among users in the area over the last year.

“It may be based on availability, or it may be based on demand,” he said. “There could be multiple reasons.”

In recent times, some of the cocaine has been laced with fentanyl, Weeks said.

Fentanyl, along with xylazine — which are almost always mixed with any heroin that addicts use — coupled with methamphetamine, are “still in a class by themselves in terms of danger,” according to Weeks.

Fentanyl is more potent and addictive than heroin and cheaper to manufacture, Weeks said.

Fentanyl mixed with xylazine is currently responsible for a majority of overdose deaths here, he said.

And in addition to being extremely addictive, meth tends to lead to violent behavior, he added.

But cocaine is still dangerous, and people can overdose on it, Weeks said.

Crack is especially addictive, he said.

A kilo of crack is a “very significant amount,” said City Councilman Dave Ellis, who worked in the Attorney General’s office for 31 years — ending four years ago — with stints as a supervisor of investigations into meth manufacturing; as the regional director successively in two Western Pennsylvania posts; as deputy chief for one of three bureaus under the AG’s office; and finally as chief of criminal investigations for the AG’s office overall.

Statewide, the cocaine resurgence seems to be a few years old, said Ellis, while noting that he’s been “out of the game” for a while.

In the decade or so previous to that, cocaine “had sort of taken a back seat” to heroin and fentanyl and to meth, he said.

Powdered cocaine came into prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, and crack in the late 1980 and 1990s, Ellis said.

Illegal drug trends in the state invariably start in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, then migrate to smaller cities like Altoona and Johnstown, Ellis said.

Law enforcement needs “to keep doing these aggressive interdictions,” Weeks said, referencing the Mertens arrest.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.