Two arrested on drug charges
A North Strabane Township man wanted in the state of Indiana for making crystal methamphetamine and a Canonsburg woman were arrested Feb. 6 for allegedly selling the drug to a confidential informant.
David Matthew McCloskey, 39, of Crawford Street, and Lauren Curtain, 30, of Peco Street, were taken into custody following a traffic stop.
Their arrests came after police in Canonsburg and North Strabane Township, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force detectives learned that McCloskey might be making crystal meth, said Canonsburg police Sgt. Al Coghill.
“We were getting reports that McCloskey, who is wanted for the same thing in Indiana, was selling crystal meth,” Coghill said. “We knew that McCloskey and Curtain were friends. We had already purchased heroin from Curtain in the past, so we started placing orders for crystal meth.”
Coghill said McCloskey accompanied Curtain last week when she made a delivery of the drugs. An order for a delivery was placed for Feb. 6, and both of them showed up, police said.
“We haven’t been able to determine if he was making the crystal meth or where he was getting it,” Coghill said. “Crystal meth has been all around us, but this is the first time we’ve seen it in Canonsburg.
“It is alarming because we don’t know who he has been with and how it was being cooked,” the detective added. “It is also alarming because he was recruiting people to buy it.”
Coghill said McCloskey had been keeping a low profile because of the outstanding warrant. He believes the 39-year-old had been in the Canonsburg area for several months.
Both were arraigned before District Judge David Mark. McCloskey is charged as a fugitive from justice and was placed in the Washington County jail without bond. Curtain was arraigned on a warrant obtained by Coghill for her alleged previous sales of heroin to confidential informants. She was placed in jail on $25,000 bond. Both face additional charges from the alleged drug transaction.
Coghill said the investigation is continuing.