LANCASTER — A 45-year-old Lancaster man was arrested on drug and weapons charges after a six-month investigation by the Lancaster County Drug Task Force.
The Task Force also found a stolen handgun and 12 grams of cocaine during separate searches of a vehicle in Ephrata Township and a hotel room in East Lampeter Township, police say.
Rothmiller had been under investigation for several months, the Task Force said. Police obtained information that Rothmiller was selling drugs from his apartment on East King Street and at other locations in the Lancaster area.
“Mr. Rothmiller was a major player in dealing narcotics in and around Lancaster city,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Friday. “There is no telling how many individuals this amount of heroin could have reached. And the bust is a reminder that K2 and other synthetics are still prevalent.”
On August 9, the Task Force performed a traffic stop on a vehicle Rothmiller was riding in on Route 222, with assistance from Ephrata Borough Police. During a search of the vehicle, they found a duffel bag under Rothmiller’s seat that contained:
- 332 bags of heroin
- 233 grams of K2 in 6-gram packages
- 12 grams of cocaine
- $1,020 in cash
- Drug packaging supplies
Manheim Borough police’s K-9 assisted in the vehicle search, police say.
Detectives gained information that Rothmiller had stashed more drugs at the Knights Inn hotel in East Lampeter Township. They searched a room there on the same day and found:
- 576 bags of heroin
- A stolen .380-caliber pistol
- $667 in cash
Rothmiller is currently incarcerated at Lancaster County Prison on $1 million bail.
