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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.
Some of those killed have come from Bergen, Rockland and Orange counties and beyond, including Pennsylvania and upstate New York, they said.
Outdoor surveillance cameras were connected to two video monitors set up over tables where the drugs were processed in the home that the couple shared with a young child, authorities said.
Paterson detectives seized rubber stamps used to ink brand names on the wax folds, some of which were linked to 18 overdoses overall, they said.
These included:
- “Empire” (4 fatal, 5 nonfatal overdoses);
- “Panda” (3 fatal overdoses);
- “100%” (2 fatal overdoses);
- “777” (1 fatal overdose);
- “Bat,” “BEE” and “Call Me.”
Rather than risk a trial, Brito. 35, took a deal from prosecutors, pleading guilty last November to maintaining a drug mill, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
Prado, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to child endangerment and entered a pre-trial intervention program that will expunge her record if she completes the requirement, he said.
“Let this sentence serve as a warning for drug traffickers who bring these dangerous substances into our communities,” Platkin said. “We will continue to disrupt the opioid market in cities throughout New Jersey through collaborative investigations with local police and our law enforcement partners across the state.”
Deputy Attorney General Anna Gildea prosecuted the case for the state Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau following a division investigation assisted by detectives from the Paterson Police Narcotics Division, he said. Platkin thanked the entire Paterson Police Department, as well.
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