Police: 900 THC cartridges, bags of pot, mushrooms, guns found during search for suspect in West Deer home

West Deer police say a man admitted to buying several pounds of marijuana to sell, along with THC cartridges and psychedelic mushrooms, after he allowed his home to be searched for a suspect being sought by sheriff’s deputies.

Richard Andrew “Trey” Darrah, 20, of Plant Street was charged with five felony counts of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and six related misdemeanor drug charges. He is being detained in the Allegheny County Jail after bail was denied at his arraignment.

Darrah faces a preliminary hearing March 15 before District Judge Tom Swan.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that West Deer police were called to Darrah’s home on Feb. 17 by Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies who were searching for another man for whom they had an arrest warrant. Allegheny County deputies were called to the scene to assist with the search.

Deputies told police that Darrah invited them to search the house after saying the man wasn’t there. They said they spotted drugs and paraphernalia in a 5-by-8-foot room in the basement when they knocked on the door and it swung open, the complaint said.

When Darrah declined to allow West Deer police to search the house, they got a warrant, according to the complaint.

Officers said they found several large bags of marijuana in the basement room, along with more than 900 THC cartridges and containers filled with THC wax, THC crumble and psychedelic mushrooms.

Investigators did not say how much marijuana was confiscated, but they noted in the complaint that 14 empty one-pound bags were found and are believed to have been used to store the drug.

Police also found 90 glass and metal marijuana pipes, marijuana grinders, several scales, a vacuum food storage bag sealer and packaging materials, the complaint said.

Officers declined Darrah’s request to return some of the glass smoking bongs that had “sentimental value” to him, the complaint said.

Police said that during the search they discovered two safes. Inside one of them, they said, was an AK-47 assault-style rifle and an AM-15 .223-caliber rifle. Darrah also had a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun and another AM-15 rifle in his bedroom, police said.

Inside the second safe, police found more than $2,350 in cash and a Louis Vuitton belt, wallet and watch, the complaint said.

When police questioned Darrah about the drugs, he told them he recently paid $6,000 to buy 500 THC cartridges for $12 each and resell them for $40 each, according to the complaint.

Darrah told police he typically buys three pounds of marijuana at a time and sells it for $200 an ounce, the complaint said.

The mushrooms, which Darrah learned to grow by watching a YouTube video, also were sold for $200 an ounce, the complaint said.

He told investigators that he buys the drugs from a “kid up in another county” named John, whom he met “through a friend of a friend,” the complaint said.

Darrah told police he didn’t know the man’s last name and that they arrange to meet in parking lots around the area to exchange the drugs for money, the complaint said.

Darrah told police he sells the drugs to people in Harmar, Frazer, East Deer, West Deer, Tarentum, Hampton and Richland, according to his arrest papers.