Alleged drug dealer
booby-traps house

Some people choose to protect their properties with extra lighting, alarms, security dogs and video surveillance cameras. But Tacony resident David Saunders believed in stronger measures, police say.
To keep intruders from ripping off his alleged drug operation inside a garage at 8301 Torresdale Ave., Saunders rigged a shotgun to blast anyone who opened the door, according to Sgt. Bob Friel of the Philadelphia police narcotics field unit.
Local, state and federal authorities investigating Saunders averted potential tragedy when the suspect told them about the booby trap after they arrested him on April 18, Friel said.
The police managed to disarm the weapon before entering the garage allegedly to find almost $16,000 worth of cocaine, along with packaging equipment and materials there.
Saunders, 43, of the 6700 block of Torresdale Ave., has been charged with multiple counts of possessing drugs with intent to distribute, possessing an instrument of crime and related offenses. He is in jail in lieu of $450,000 bail.
In addition to the narcotics field unit, members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the local FBI office took part in the three-month investigation.
Officer Tom Rola was the assigned city policeman. Authorities developed information on Saunders from confidential informants and then made controlled cocaine purchases from Saunders, Friel said.
Investigators believe Saunders and unidentified partners bought kilogram quantities of cocaine, used cutting agents to increase the weight of the drugs, then repackaged them in 1-kilogram bricks, thereby turning a profit.
“They had a kilo press and they were reworking the coke for resale in bulk,” Friel said.
Saunders rented the garage and fashioned the shotgun triggering device out of plywood, hooks, fishing line and springs. It was attached to the doorknob.
Police arrested Saunders on drug charges in the early afternoon of April 18, then served search warrants inside his house, the garage and a second home that he visited.
Inside his house, investigators found a .38-caliber revolver and small amounts of cocaine, prescription pills and marijuana, Friel said. The garage had 158 grams of cocaine.
The other house came up clean. ••