A Schuylkill County woman is wanted by police and is facing charges of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Police in Pottsville say they became aware that a wanted woman, Alexia Rodriguez, 36, of the Pottsville area, had just entered a smoke shop in the city at about 1:30 a.m. on April 12.
At the time, Rodriguez was known to police to have an active warrant for her arrest out of Montgomery County on drug charges.
Rodriguez was taken into custody without incident. As police were taking her into custody, they say Rodriguez tried several times to hand her purse to friends. That gave police reason to believe the purse contained drugs at the time, they say in court documents.
A search of her person at the time of her arrest, police say they found a piece of burnt foil and a lighter in her coat pocket. Police say the burnt foil is often used by people to smoke fentanyl.
While searching the purse that Rodriguez tried handing to friends at the smoke shop, police say they found numerous incriminating items, like a resealable bag with a crystal substance, a resealable bag with a bulk amount of a white powder, a resealable bag containing two full and two half pieces of green pills, a resealable bag with 34 unused smaller resealable bags, four white packets, a tin containing residue and used cotton, two glass pipes, a metal stray with burnt residue, and two syringes.
Inside Rodriguez’ wallet, police say $290 in cash. They would later learn that the cash had elevated levels of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Rodriguez allegedly agreed to speak to police after her arrest.
During that interview, she reportedly admitted that she was a drug addict and that the drugs were for her personal use. However, she also admitted that she sold drugs to support her drug habit, namely being addicted to fentanyl and methamphetamine. She said she would pay $80 for a gram of fentanyl and then sell it for $120.
The pills, she reportedly said, were Klonopin.
On July 30, police say they received results from Drug Enforcement Administration testing on the substances seized during Rodriguez’ arrest. Those results allegedly indicate that she had 7.778 grams of methamphetamine and 4.374 grams of fentanyl. The pills were, in fact, clonazepam (the generic name for Klonopin).
Court records show that Rodriguez entered a guilty plea on a drug charge in Montgomery County in 2024 and sentenced to 1-2 weeks in prison followed by a term of 3 years of probation as well as undergo drug addiction treatment.
For the incident in Pottsville, police have charged her with a felony count of possession with intent to deliver as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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