HANOVER TWP. — A man taken into custody Tuesday on charges he sold a pound of marijuana was asked if he wanted to speak with police.
Muhammad Akhtar Habib, 21, did speak, but he wasn’t very complimentary to officers, records show.
“Go (expletive) yourselves, that’s what I have to say,” Habib allegedly told police.
Township officers and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force arrested Habib and his driver, Patrick Michael Lehman Jr., 21, of Hanover Township, for allegedly selling a pound of marijuana in exchange for $3,000 on Tuesday.
Police said the transaction occurred in the parking lot of the Hanover Mall on the Sans Souci Parkway.
Habib, of Jamaica, N.Y., and Lehman were arraigned Wednesday on two counts each of possession with intent to deliver drugs, and one count each of possession of drugs and criminal conspiracy. Habib and Lehman were jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $75,000 bail and $25,000 bail, respectively.
Here are more details from criminal complaints:
Police and task force officers set up to buy a pound of marijuana for $3,000 from Habib. Arrangements were made to meet in the parking lot of the Hanover Mall at about 7 p.m. Tuesday.
After the exchange inside a vehicle driven by Lehman, police stopped the suspects on the parkway.
Lehman told officers he made arrangements to drive Habib to sell the pound of marijuana in return for Habib giving him marijuana after the deal was done.
Police recovered the marijuana; $3,266 in cash; two small plastic bags with white tablets and one blue tablet; and a folded-up $1 bill with crushed white powder from Habib’s backpack.
Habib was free on $2,500 bail from Monroe County, where he is facing drug trafficking charges, court records say.
Depending on quality, a pound of marijuana broken down into eighths of an ounce is valued at $6,500, an undercover officer explained.
credit:timesleader.com