Wilkes-Barre police have arrested three people accused of attempting to sell sea salt as methamphetamine.
Investigators received a tip that two people, later identified as 39-year-old David Michael Rodriguez, of Madison Street, and 42-year-old Diana Yakabovicz, of Wilkes-Barre, were using Facebook Messenger to set up a drug sale, according toOfficers then set up an undercover drug sting in a parking lot on the Sans Souci Parkway Tuesday evening in Hanover Township.
As Wilkes-Barre police and state police monitored the sale, officers approached the car and arrested Rodriguez, Yakabovicz, and 44-year-old Jason Lenahan, of Wilkes-Barre, who was sitting in the passenger seat. According to court papers, Rodriguez gave the buyer a bag of what looked like meth but was actually sea salt..
Rodriguez and Yakabovicz were charged with selling a non-controlled substance as a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility, while Lenahan was charged with two counts possession of a controlled substance and one count each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The trio were placed in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility after being unable to post the $100,000 bail, according to reports.