Police have arrested more than 50 people in North Camden over the last week as they continue to crack down on the neighborhood's well-established drug networks.
The operation began Aug. 14 but took on new intensity in the last week following the second PCP-related child killing in as many weeks.
The police efforts have concentrated on a drug-dealing operation at Seventh and Vine Streets, where 33 people have been arrested in the last week, almost all on drug charges.
After the killing of 6-year-old Dominick Andujor Sept. 2 by someone who allegedly had smoked PCP-laced marijuana - known as "wet" - police are offering $500 rewards for information that leads to the arrest of someone dealing PCP.
So far, two tipsters have claimed the rewards.
Use of wet is also suspected in the killing of 2-year-old Zahree Thomas on Aug. 22. The toddler's mother, Chevonne Thomas, who once had lost custody of her child for abusing drugs, allegedly decapitated him before stabbing herself to death.
Police "have been working exhausting hours to combat the demand and supply of the open air drug markets," Police Chief Scott Thomson said.
Users and dealers are being targeted, with more than 140 arrested on charges of loitering with intent to buy a controlled substance since the operation began.
Contact James Osborne at 856- 779-3876 or jaosborne@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @osborneja.
