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One Strike Rental Ordinance Enforced For First Time

WILKES-BARRE – City officials say they enforced a new rental ordinance for the first time on Friday, to shut down an apartment unit following a drug raid. Mayor...

WILKES-BARRE – City officials say they enforced a new rental ordinance for the first time on Friday, to shut down an apartment unit following a drug raid.

Mayor Tom Leighton told Newswatch 16 that three people were arrested on Wednesday, after officers found cocaine and cash from an alleged drug dealing operation inside an apartment on Carlisle Street.

According to Lehighton, the landlord will not be permitted to rent out the apartment unit for six months.

“If we have to shut down a unit a day, we`re going to do it until we clean this city up,” said Leighton.

Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Gerry Dessoye said the crackdown on drugs will help in the city’s battle with with gun violence.

"People are settling things through violence, through extreme violence,” said Dessoye. “They’re actually shooting and stabbing each other now and days just to settle. Oftentimes, we find out its often just a minor beef."

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