This article was originally posted on goerie.com on Oct. 4, 2017 by Tim Hahn.

A man and a woman, both of Erie, were taken into custody and charged in the investigation, which was worked by the Erie Bureau of Police and the Erie County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force.

Erie police seized suspected fentanyl, along with cash and a gun, in the search of a Wallace Street residence Tuesday morning as part of a drug investigation fueled in part by citizen complaints.

Police arrested Antoun D. Moore, 19, and Felicia H. Martinez, 22.

Moore was arraigned by Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro on charges of possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver, persons not to possess a firearm, receiving stolen property, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Martinez was arraigned on charges of possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver, and persons not to possess a firearm.

Moore and Martinez were placed in the Erie County Prison, each on $50,000 bond.

Investigators served a search warrant on a residence in the 3200 block of Wallace Street on Tuesday at about 10:30 a.m.

Found in the search were nearly 10 grams of suspected fentanyl, packaged in multiple bags; nearly $23,000 in cash, found in shoe boxes; and a gun, which investigators are checking for ownership. Investigators did not have an estimated street value of the seized drugs.

The Pennsylvania State Police were also called in, with a drug-sniffing dog, to check a vehicle as part of the investigation, according to police.

The search was part of a several-month investigation involving controlled buys, Erie police Lt. Mike Nolan said. The probe was fueled in part by complaints city police had received, through an email tip line, about suspected fentanyl sales in Erie, Nolan said.

Nolan said the investigation is part of increased efforts by law enforcement in the Erie region to target those suspected of selling fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain medication that has been blamed in a number of recent overdoses and overdose deaths in the region.

“I think this is indicative of a good, multi-jurisdictional effort,” Police Chief Donald Dacus said.