Pennsylvania
4 suspects arrested for allegedly trafficking $5M in narcotics from California to Pennsylvania
DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of four men who allegedly trafficked millions of dollars worth of cocaine and methamphetamine from California to Pennsylvania.
At a press conference, District Attorney Jen Schorn named Matthew James Byrne, 43, of Broomall; Joseph Byrne, 47, of Levittown; Khalik Kemp, 34, of Philadelphia; and Christian Garwood, 55 of Flourtown, as members of the “Byrne Drug Trafficking Organization.”
According to police, the group — allegedly led by Matthew Byrne — shipped more than $5 million worth of narcotics from coast to coast.
Investigators say they used objects like speakers to conceal the drugs as they were shipped through the postal service.
“The drug trafficking organization would ship roughly in each shipment approximately 25 to 30 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine by hiding them inside of large karaoke style Bluetooth speakers,” Schorn said Wednesday.
Investigators said Matthew Byrne traveled to Southern California at least twice a month since January, where he would spend two to three days buying cocaine and methamphetamine from drug brokers with connections in Mexico.
He would then allegedly ship the drugs to his brother’s home on Gable Hill Road in Bristol, Bucks County, and another home in Flourtown, Montgomery County.
“Those shipments would be received by their counterparts in Bucks and Montgomery counties and would later be prepared for distribution to individuals in our community,” Schorn said.
During the course of the investigation, three shipments were intercepted at a United States Postal Service facility in Louisville, Kentucky.
Authorities said nearly $1.2 million worth of drugs were found stashed away in speakers.
In total, investigators said they tracked 12 shipments to locations in Bristol Township and Montgomery County allegedly containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs meant to be distributed on the streets.
“We can connect the dots,” Schorn said. “These drugs were getting into the hands of users shortly after being prepped for distribution in Bucks County and Montgomery County.”
On Monday, all four of the accused who reside in Pennsylvania were hit with several charges, including corrupt organizations and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Two other men in California — Ralph Brooks, 42, of Los Angeles, and Chaz Harness-Walker, 40, of Inglewood — were also charged.
However, they have not yet been arrested.
Authorities said the investigation, which involved both state, local, and federal authorities across multiple jurisdictions, was still active as investigators worked to determine the full scope of the operation.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, Spiros Karabinas, said the results of the investigation were a reminder to bad actors that drug enforcement is indeed a priority.
“We will continue to work vigorously to prevent them from being trafficked, distributed and ultimately sold throughout our communities,” said Karabinas.
All four Pennsylvania defendants were committed to Bucks County Correctional Facility on bail ranging from $1 million to $5 million.
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Pennsylvania
Winter Storm Warnings in effect for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, U.S.
Multiple Winter Storm Warnings are in effect across the Northeast U.S. from the afternoon of December 26 through the late morning or early afternoon of December 27.
Warnings cover much of the region from northeastern Pennsylvania through northern New Jersey, southeastern New York, and southern Connecticut.
The warning is in effect from 16:00 EST on December 26 until 13:00 EST on December 27 for New York City’s five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, and Fairfield, Westchester, Rockland, and Bergen Counties.
For northern and southern New Haven Counties, Connecticut, the warning begins slightly later, from 19:00 EST on December 26 to 13:00 EST on December 27.
In northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey, including Monroe, Warren, Sussex, and Morris Counties, warnings remain in effect from 13:00 EST on December 26 until 10:00 EST on December 27. These areas may experience a combination of snow and sleet, with local ice accumulations in elevated terrain.
Farther north, in the Catskills, mid-Hudson Valley, and Litchfield County, Connecticut, are under warnings from 16:00 EST on December 26 until 13:00 EST on December 27.
Snow will begin spreading from southwest to northeast during the afternoon and intensify through the evening. Peak snowfall rates may reach 2.5–5 cm (1–2 inches) per hour at times.
Snowfall totals of 13–23 cm (5–9 inches) are forecast across the New York City area, Long Island, southern New York, and southern Connecticut.
Meanwhile, Albany, Ulster, Greene, Dutchess, and Litchfield Counties are forecast to receive around 13–25 cm (5–10 inches) of snowfall.
Snow totals are forecast to reach 10–20 cm (4–8 inches) in northern New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania, with localized totals of over 20 cm (8 inches) being possible for higher elevation areas.
The heavy snow and winter weather will create dangerous travel conditions across major routes, including Interstates 80,87,95, and 287, through the warning period.
The snowfall is expected to begin tapering off by the morning of December 27 as the storm moves out into the Atlantic.
References:
1 Winter Storm Warning – NWS – December 26, 2025
Pennsylvania
The town that saved Christmas, Wellsboro Pa.
Pennsylvania
Trump Tells Child on Santa Hotline, ‘We Won Pennsylvania… Three Times’
President Donald Trump took Christmas Eve calls from children inquiring as to the whereabouts of Santa Claus, according to NORAD’s “Santa Tracker.” At one point, he fielded a call from a child in Pennsylvania, and it went as one might expect.
Trump spoke to the children on speakerphone in front of cameras and was connected with a five-year-old boy and his mother in State College.
“Pennsylvania’s great,” Trump told the boy. “We won Pennsylvania, actually, three times. We won Pennsylvania. We won it in a landslide, so I love Pennsylvania.”
The president won the state in 2016 and 2024, but lost it in 2020, when he baselessly claimed that voter fraud occurred in the state and elsewhere.
The president told the child that, according to NORAD’s “Santa Tracker,” which somehow escaped the DOGE cuts, Old Saint Nick was in Copenhagen and heading to the U.S.
“What would you like from Santa?” Trump asked.
The child responded with what sounded like “a 3-D pen” before listing two unintelligible items, “and a robot.”
“Well, you’ll get all of it,” the president replied, leaving Mom out to dry. “Mom, I think he’s gonna get all of it, don’t you think, from Santa?”
“I think so,” the woman replied. “He was really good.”
Trump told the boy, “When you wake up in the morning, you’re gonna be the happiest young man.”
In 2018, Trump famously took a Christmas Eve call from a seven-year-old and asked, “Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it’s marginal, right?”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
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