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Opioid Crisis

Police & Fire
22+ Pounds Of 'Gas Station Heroin' Heading To Edgewater Seized, Feds Say 22+ Pounds Of 'Gas Station Heroin' Heading To Edgewater Seized, Feds Say
22+ Pounds Of 'Gas Station Heroin' Heading To Edgewater Seized, Feds Say Customs agents seized more than 22 pounds of tianeptine—a dangerous drug also called "gas station heroin"—at a South Jersey shipping facility, authorities said. Customs and Border Protection officers found the shipments at "an international express consignment facility," CBP said in a news release on Friday, Dec. 13. CBP didn't mention the specific location where the packages were found. The shipments were marked as "deep groove ball bearings" but officers found five bags of a white powdery substance in each package. The parcels were seized on Monday, Nov. 25 and Monday,…

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by Chris Spiker
News
NJ Man Sells 420-Gram Package Of Drugs 3X Stronger Than Fentanyl To Undercover Cop: Feds NJ Man Sells 420-Gram Package Of Drugs 3X Stronger Than Fentanyl To Undercover Cop: Feds
NJ Man Sells 420-Gram Package Of Drugs 3X Stronger Than Fentanyl To Undercover Cop: Feds Two men, including one from Westchester County, face federal charges for allegedly selling a narcotic up to three times stronger than fentanyl, officials announced.  Yonkers resident Miguel de Jesus Reyes Medina, age 49, and Camden, NJ resident Erik Alberto Lopez Valdez, age 38, were arrested on Thursday, July 18 on drug distribution charges, the US Attorney's Office for Southern District of New York announced.  According to federal officials, in April 2024, Reyes Medina agreed to sell fentanyl to an undercover agent working with law enforcement, reportedly asking f…

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by Ben Crnic
News
Detectives In Bergen Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 1.5 Million Users Detectives In Bergen Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 1.5 Million Users
Detectives In Bergen Seize Enough Fentanyl To Kill 1.5 Million Users Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized three kilos of deadly fentanyl – enough to produce nearly 1.5 million potentially fatal doses -- while arresting three men during a traffic stop in Teaneck. Charged with conspiracy and possessing 6½ pounds of the drug with the intent to distribute it are Bronx residents Edomar Troncoso, 28, Hanser Hernandez-Soto, 25, and Jefri Dominguez, 35, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Members of his Narcotic Task Force, along with Teaneck police, took the trio into custody late last week, Musella said. All three were booked into the Bergen Count…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Dealer Who Produced Deadly Opioids In Basement Across From Paterson Mayor's Home Gets 10 Years Dealer Who Produced Deadly Opioids In Basement Across From Paterson Mayor's Home Gets 10 Years
Dealer Who Produced Deadly Opioids In Basement Across From Paterson Mayor's Home Gets 10 Years A dealer who produced lethal opioids in a fortified basement drug mill across the street from the mayor of Paterson's house was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, authorities said. Silk City police had seized 17,000 folds of heroin and fentanyl -- as well as packaging and distribution materials -- while arresting Rafael “Chiquito” Brito and his girlfriend, Rosanny Prado, during a March 2020 raid on their East 36th Street residence across from Mayor Andre Sayegh's home. The drugs were linked to at least 10 overdose deaths of both local and suburban buyers, authorities said at the time. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds
NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds A doctor from Central Jersey is accused of taking bribes and kickbacks in exchange for prescribing potentially fatal doses of fentanyl, authorities said. Mukaram Gazi, 51, of Marlboro in Monmouth County was charged with conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, receiving kickbacks, health care fraud and conspiring to unlawfully distribute dangerous narcotics, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig. According to Thursday's indictment: Gazi owned a urology practice with offices in Freehold, Hamilton, Howell and Toms River.  Gazi received more than $130,000 in bribes and…

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by Jon Craig
Lifestyle
'He Died In His Tracks,' NJ Mom Says After Twin Son, 25, Dies Of Fentanyl Poisoning 'He Died In His Tracks,' NJ Mom Says After Twin Son, 25, Dies Of Fentanyl Poisoning
'He Died In His Tracks,' NJ Mom Says After Twin Son, 25, Dies Of Fentanyl Poisoning A New Jersey mother is opening up on social media to spread awareness of counterfeit drugs after the sudden death of her 25-year-old son due to fentanyl poisoning. Denville native and Morris Knolls High School graduate Ross Michael Kaplowitz died Dec. 13, his obituary says. The University of Vermont student had gone out to smoke in the family’s garage and was found dead hours later, his mother, Marisa, details in a public Facebook post -- which had nearly gone viral as of March 3. “There was nothing we could do to revive him, although we tried," she wrote. "He died in his tracks.” Though…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Justice Department Accuses Walmart Of Fueling Opioid Crisis, Seeks Billions In Penalties Justice Department Accuses Walmart Of Fueling Opioid Crisis, Seeks Billions In Penalties
Justice Department Accuses Walmart Of Fueling Opioid Crisis, Seeks Billions In Penalties The Trump Administration sued Walmart on Tuesday for producing what it alleges is an illegal flow of pain killers that has fueled America’s opioid crisis. Ignoring “red flag” warnings against suspicious prescriptions from its own pharmacists, Walmart turned a network of 5,000 national in-store pharmacies into a pipeline of highly addictive painkillers, the Justice Department’s alleges in its lawsuit. Walmart understaffed those pharmacies while pressuring workers to fill prescriptions quickly – enabling widespread drug abuse -- in order to increase profits, the suit filed in US District Cour…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Historic Guilty Plea By Oxycontin Maker Purdue Pharma: What It Means Historic Guilty Plea By Oxycontin Maker Purdue Pharma: What It Means
Historic Guilty Plea By Oxycontin Maker Purdue Pharma: What It Means Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark on Tuesday in exchange for not only the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer for its role in creating the nation’s opioid crisis. The company, which declared bankruptcy last year, also will be dissolved and its assets used to establish a new "public benefit company,” federal authorities said. US District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo approved the deal after Purdue Pharma Board Chairman Steve Miller pleaded guilty during a teleconference to three criminal charges on behalf of the company. “Purd…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Crime Fighters Smash Paterson Opioid Mill, Seize 17,000 Folds Linked To 10 Deaths Crime Fighters Smash Paterson Opioid Mill, Seize 17,000 Folds Linked To 10 Deaths
Crime Fighters Smash Paterson Opioid Mill, Seize 17,000 Folds Linked To 10 Deaths Authorities raided a Paterson opioid mill, seizing 17,000 folds of packaged heroin and fentanyl linked to 10 deaths of both local and suburban buyers. State authorities and Paterson police arrested Rafael “Chiquito” Brito, 33, and his girlfriend, Rosanny Prado, 38, in the raid on the East 36th Street basement operation, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The home was equipped with outdoor surveillance cameras connected to two video monitors set up over tables where the drugs were processed, he said. Detectives seized rubber stamps used to ink brand names on the wax folds, some of whi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More
Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More A Bergen County doctor who became notorious as the “El Chapo of Opioids” admitted in federal court Monday that he randomly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, Percocet and more with no questions asked and then tried to cover his tracks. Robert Delagente, 45, of Oakland, “knowingly prescribed for his patients some of the most dangerous and addictive drugs available, sometimes with no more contact than a text message from the patient,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said after Delagente pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to illegally selling the drugs, falsifying records and conspiracy. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
State, Feds Smash Mill That Produced Deadly Fentanyl Tied To 5 Bergen ODs State, Feds Smash Mill That Produced Deadly Fentanyl Tied To 5 Bergen ODs
State, Feds Smash Mill That Produced Deadly Fentanyl Tied To 5 Bergen ODs A total of 29 overdose deaths across New Jersey were tied to fentanyl produced at a Newark opioid mill raided by a strike force of New Jersey State Police and U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents, authorities said Tuesday. Three accused mill operators were arrested, while more than 15 pounds of fentanyl and three handguns were seized by members of the NJSP Opioid Enforcement Task Force and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), they said. The defendants sold their product in wax folds stamped with the same brand names linked to 76 total suspected overdoses across …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Oakland 'Candy Man' Doc Who Dubbed Himself ‘El Chapo Of Opioids' Admits Scamming Insurers Oakland 'Candy Man' Doc Who Dubbed Himself ‘El Chapo Of Opioids' Admits Scamming Insurers
Oakland 'Candy Man' Doc Who Dubbed Himself ‘El Chapo Of Opioids' Admits Scamming Insurers An Oakland doctor who boasted of being the “El Chapo of Opioids” will be sentenced to a plea-bargained five years in state prison after admitting that he submitted $32,000 in bogus health insurance claims. Under the terms of his deal with the state, Robert Delagente will be sentenced to the five years on Jan. 10 in exchange for pleading guilty to health care claims fraud during a hearing in Superior Court in Hackensack. Delagente, 45, admitted that he submitted seven fraudulent claims to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey totaling $32,006 between May and December 2016 while practicing at …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities Raid Paterson Opioid Factories, Bust Accused Gang Leader Of Heroin, Fentanyl Ring Authorities Raid Paterson Opioid Factories, Bust Accused Gang Leader Of Heroin, Fentanyl Ring
Authorities Raid Paterson Opioid Factories, Bust Accused Gang Leader Of Heroin, Fentanyl Ring The reputed leader of a Bloods set and nine alleged associates were charged with running a drug distribution ring in Paterson after authorities smashed two sophisticated opioid mills that put tens of thousands of heroin and fentanyl doses on the street each week. Authorities seized 27,000 individual doses of heroin, more than two pounds of the drug, nearly a pound of fentanyl and $60,000 in alleged proceeds. Kashard Whitaker, a 41-year-old founding member and leader of the 4K Boyz set of the Bloods street gang, “commanded a ring of suppliers and street-level distributors,” state Attorney Ge…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Irvington Drug Mill Sold ‘Branded’ Heroin That Killed Dozens: AG Irvington Drug Mill Sold ‘Branded’ Heroin That Killed Dozens: AG
Irvington Drug Mill Sold ‘Branded’ Heroin That Killed Dozens: AG Authorities raided an Irvington apartment Tuesday that was used to prepare heroin for sale on the street, with doses stamped with “brand names” like Dunkin Donuts and American Greed, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Also on Tuesday, four people were arrested for their alleged involvement with the operation, which sold drugs believed to be responsible for 33 overdose deaths and more than 90 overdoses in total. Numerous law enforcement agencies from across North Jersey assisted in the investigation that led to Tuesday’s raid on a second-floor apartment at 214 Eastern Parkway, where au…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
VIDEO: Retired Police Chief Proud That Force Has Made New Milford One Of NJ's Safest Towns VIDEO: Retired Police Chief Proud That Force Has Made New Milford One Of NJ's Safest Towns
Video: Retired Police Chief Proud That Force Has Made New Milford One Of NJ's Safest Towns FINAL WALKOUT: It's not easy to produce one of the safest municipalities in all of New Jersey -- especially when you're on the outskirts of cities with high crime rates -- which helps account for the pride that retired New Milford Police Chief Frank Ramaci had during his final walkout on Tuesday. "I'm proudest of the officers who've worked tirelessly during my tenure to protect the residents and business owners of New Milford," said Ramaci, a 25-year department veteran who became chief in early 2015. Last year, an alarm company rated New Milford the second-safest municipality in New Jersey …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
New NJ Civil Rights Director Rachel Wainer Apter Of Englewood Boasts Prestigious Law Record New NJ Civil Rights Director Rachel Wainer Apter Of Englewood Boasts Prestigious Law Record
New NJ Civil Rights Director Rachel Wainer Apter Of Englewood Boasts Prestigious Law Record Rachel Wainer Apter of Englewood already had a distinguished resume when New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal appointed her Thursday as the new director of the state Division on Civil Rights. Apter, 38, most recently has served as Grewal’s counsel on civil right and immigration – and led the New Jersey team that defeated a motion by Texas and seven other states to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). “This is a unique time for civil rights law in New Jersey,” Apter said. “While civil rights are under siege at the national level, the New Jersey legislature has been dram…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Rochelle Park Hairdresser Sold Prescription Pills From Salon Police: Rochelle Park Hairdresser Sold Prescription Pills From Salon
Police: Rochelle Park Hairdresser Sold Prescription Pills From Salon ROCHELLE PARK, N.J. -- A Rochelle Park hair dresser sold prescription pills from a local salon, said township police who said they found envelopes prepared, labeled and packaged for sale along with several hundred prescription pills. They also seized nearly $10,000 in drug proceeds when they arrested Anthony Bianchi, 44, of Nutley in the middle of a drug deal at the Rochlle Avenue salon on Friday, Police Chief Robert Flannelly said. Bianchi -- whose father, Joseph, is the mayor of North Arlington -- dealt Percocet, Oxycodone, Endocet "during daylight and business hours in [his] place o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Prosecutor: 'Helping Hand' Continues To Reach Opioid Addicts Bergen Prosecutor: 'Helping Hand' Continues To Reach Opioid Addicts
Bergen Prosecutor: 'Helping Hand' Continues To Reach Opioid Addicts HACKENSACK, N.J. – More than three dozen heroin users arrested in Bergen County over a four-day period got more than summonses to appear in court: They were each also offered the opportunity to connect with a recovering addict who could one day help save his or her life. Of the 37 users given the chance, 19 of those charged with heroin agreed to work with a “recovery specialist” -- – a recovering addict who has remained clean and knows how to help them find treatment, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said. A dozen of them completed 5-day detox and had long-term treatment options …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJAG: Clifton Ortho Doc Who Freely Doled Out Opioids Barred From Practice NJAG: Clifton Ortho Doc Who Freely Doled Out Opioids Barred From Practice
Njag: Clifton Ortho Doc Who Freely Doled Out Opioids Barred From Practice CLIFTON, N.J. -- A Clifton orthopedic surgeon who prescribed addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused the drugs, sold them on the black market or otherwise didn't need them has been temporarily barred from practicing medicine. Evangelos Megariotis told one patient that "anything that drugs can do on the street, my medications will do better and safer” and to “just call me,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday. He also treated patient complaints of hyper tension, upper respiratory issues, ADD, PTS and other conditions with drugs -- among them, Xanax, Adderal…

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by Jerry DeMarco