PENNSYLVANIA 7 are indicted in drug ring at nightclub

Federal agents say uncut heroin was packaged at a Pittsburgh home.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Pittsburgh nightclub that was shut down as a nuisance bar was also used by two men as a front for a drug ring that funneled heroin from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, authorities said.
A day after Allegheny County authorities padlocked the door to Chauncy's, federal authorities on Wednesday unsealed an indictment alleging that the nightclub's managers were running a heroin ring.
Vernon Jackson, 36, formerly of Robinson; Duane Moore, 33, of Pittsburgh, and five other men were indicted on Nov. 18 on a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin allegedly supplied from Elizabeth, N.J., Jackson's hometown.
Jackson has been in custody since he was arrested Oct. 27, while Moore's whereabouts were unknown. Neither man had a listed telephone number and it was unclear Thursday if either had an attorney.
Details
In court papers, federal agents claim that the ring brought uncut heroin from New Jersey, packaged it at a Pittsburgh home and then sold it around the city. Federal agents and police said they had been investigating the ring for months, saying they had attached a tracking device to Jackson's car and used an undercover agent who watched meetings among Jackson, Moore and drug dealers.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said Jackson and Moore may have used the nightclub to launder money. The Internal Revenue Service is examining the club's books to see if the men used money from heroin to book hip-hop acts, officials said.
This week, Allegheny County Judge Robert Horgos ordered the club padlocked pending a hearing Tuesday to determine if it should be permanently closed.
In a complaint against the club, Allegheny County prosecutors described fights, drug dealing, assaults and a November 2003 murder in a parking garage that allegedly stemmed from a dispute in the nightclub. A nuisance bar task force last raided the club in January and made eight arrests.