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Friday, mar 21
Tag:
Drug Distribution
News
Bergen Prosecutor’s Lt. Faces 50-Count Indictment For Stealing Fentanyl, Heroin: AG
A Bergen County prosecutor’s office lieutenant is facing a 50-count indictment after allegedly stealing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl from the evidence vault and depositing $600,000 in cash into his personal accounts, authorities said. A state grand jury in Trenton indicted Kevin T. Matthew, 48, of Cedar Grove, after an investigation revealed he had allegedly signed out narcotics from BCPO’s main evidence vault between January 2019 and November 2023, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Wednesday, March 12. Authorities said Matthew was not part of BCPO’s narcotics unit, but as a me…
Police & Fire
Paterson Man Supplied Fatal Fentanyl Dose In Route 46 Motel Death: Prosecutor
A Paterson man is facing strict liability charges after investigators say he supplied the fatal dose of fentanyl that killed a 42-year-old man in an Elmwood Park motel, authorities announced. Terry Redfern, 35, of Paterson, was arrested on Tuesday, March 4, following a months-long investigation into the May 3, 2023, overdose death, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Police responded to a medical emergency at a motel on Route 46 in Elmwood Park at 11:04 a.m., where they found the victim unresponsive and lifeless, according to Musella. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and si…
Police & Fire
Bergen County Residents Among 23 Arrested In Another Major Drug Bust: Prosecutor
Twenty-three people including four women and 19 men from Bergen and Passaic counties have been arrested following a 10-month-long investigation into the distribution of cocaine and narcotics in Passaic County, authorities said. The 23 people were charged with various controlled dangerous substance offenses after an investigation that began last May, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes and numerous police chiefs said. Law enforcement in Wayne and Pompton Lakes began investigating after responding to complaints about the sale of cocaine in the area, Valdes said. The investigati…
Police & Fire
More Charges Filed In Teaneck Gun Bust, Maywood Woman Arrested: Cops
A gun and drug investigation that began with a routine traffic stop in Teaneck last month has resulted in additional charges against one suspect and the arrest of a second, authorities announced Tuesday, March 4. On Monday, Feb. 10, at approximately 10:52 a.m., officers stopped a vehicle on Cedar Lane and arrested Ross Daniels-Lynn, 18, of Teaneck, after discovering he was carrying an illegal firearm, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew R. McGurr said. Following an ongoing investigation, authorities charged Daniels-Lynn with additional weapons and drug offenses and arrested the vehicle’s owner, Ser…
Police & Fire
Drug
Raid
: Bergen County Residents Busted In Major Operation, Cops Say
A months-long investigation into an illegal drug distribution network led to coordinated police raids across North Jersey, resulting in multiple arrests and the seizure of weapons, drugs, and cash, authorities said. The Wayne Police Department and New Jersey State Police executed the raids on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, with assistance from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Clifton, Haledon, and Pompton Lakes Police Departments. Tactical units from the NJSP TEAMS Unit and Elmwood Park ERT helped officers enter several locations in Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, Paterson, Bloomfield, and Mo…
Business
Walgreens Knowingly Filled Millions Of Prescriptions Lacking Legit Medical Purpose, DOJ Says
The Justice Department has filed a nationwide lawsuit against Walgreens, alleging the pharmacy chain filled millions of prescriptions without legitimate medical purposes, particularly involving dangerous opioid combinations, over more than a decade. Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the civil complaint contends Walgreens violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and False Claims Act (FCA) by dispensing prescriptions despite clear red flags and seeking federal reimbursements for these drugs. “This lawsuit seeks to hold Walgreens accountable for the many…
Police & Fire
No Charges Filed In Fatal NJ Police Shooting Of Bling Bishop Robber: AG
A state grand jury declined to indict the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 41-year-old Brooklyn man in South Brunswick last January, authorities said. Shamar Leggette was shot by members of the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024 at a motel room in South Brunswick. Legette had been wanted for robbing "Bling Bishop" Lamor Whitehead from Paramus in Bergen County, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Leggette, was also wanted out of Rhode Island for armed robbery, Platkin said. The second suspect, a female,…
Police & Fire
18 Pounds Of Pot Seized From Consignment Shop Drug Ring Trio In North Jersey: Police
Three people have been arrested after authorities uncovered a massive drug ring being run out of a North Jersey thrift store. Search warrants executed at businesses, storage units, and vehicles in Bloomingdale, Newton, and Wayne turned up 18 pounds of marijuana and 1.13 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, Bloomingdale police said. Jesse A Baron, 43, of Bloomingdale, and Ryan T Smith, 36, of Butler, and Daniel F. Valerio, 39, of Bloomingdale, were slapped with various drug possession and distribution charges for running the scheme out of Thrifty Hippie Consignments on Main Street in Bloomin…
News
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…
News
High-Capacity Magazine Found On Shooting Suspects In Passaic County Traffic Stop: Officials
Three men and a teenage boy have been arrested for two shootings, Passaic and Paterson officials announced on Saturday, June 29. Gabriel Mercado, 23 of Lodi, NJ; Issac Mejia, 23 of Paterson, NJ; Steven Batista, 20 of Malden Massachusetts; and a 17-year-old boy from Paterson, NJ were charged in connection with non-fatal shootings in April and June, officials explained in the release. Mercado and Mejia were arrested during a traffic stop by members of the New Jersey State Police Violent & Organized Crime Control North Bureau in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol…
Police & Fire
Paterson Drug Dealer Charged In OD Death Of Westwood Victim, 38, Prosecutor Says
A 39-year-old Paterson man has been charged with providing the drugs that allegedly resulted in a fatal overdose of a Westwood man in May, authorities said. Jesus A. Cantillo is believed to have provided the drugs that led to the death of 38-year-old Lance Kerness, of Westwood, who was found unresponsive in a home on May 2, 2024, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, June 28. Kerness was pronounced dead at the scene, Musella said. Indicators of a possible drug overdose were noted, and detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force were no…
News
Fentanyl-Dealing Paterson Gangsters Facing Federal Charges, 1 Robbed Mail Carrier, DOJ Says
Four Paterson gang members have recently been charged with distributing fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, authorities said. The gang members, Jazmeir Reyes, a.k.a. Baby Joe, 19, Kyzeik Robinson, a.k.a. Doo Doo, 18, Michael Davis, a.k.a. Baby Three, 27 and Jacim Pitts, 24, operate in North Main and Jefferson Streets in the First Ward of Paterson, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Reyes, Robinson and Davis were all members of the 100K gang while Pitts was a member of So Icey, a gang aligned with 100K, Sellinger said. In July 2023 in Paterson, Reyes held a mail carrier at gunp…
Police & Fire
5-Pound Pot Bust Behind School Sidelines Dealer: Elmwood Park PD
An Elmwood Park man who'd parked behind a local school had five pounds of pot for sale in his car, authorities said. Officers approached the vehicle, which was parked behind the Gantner Avenue School, shortly before 9 a.m. on a Sunday, Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno said. They found Richard Wochinger, 45, with a pound of marijuana each packed into five vacuum-sealed bags, a digital scale and assorted paraphernalia, the chief said. Wochinger was charged with possession and distribution of the pot, among other offenses, before being released pending court action.
Police & Fire
'Ruthless' Brick City Brims Druglord From Montclair Convicted Of Three Murders, More
The leader of a notorious Essex County street gang that dominated the region's drug trade was convicted by a federal jury of three murders, among other counts, authorities said. Michael Healy, 43, of Montclair, "ruthlessly ordered murders so that he could protect his narcotics operation and continue to sell large quantities of dangerous [drugs],” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said after federal jurors in Newark returned their verdicts on Wednesday, April 3. Healy "recruited men to kill someone he thought was an informant, and even when they killed the wrong person – a bystander – he ord…
Police & Fire
Decade For Bergen County Man Whose Drugs Led To Fatal OD In Morris County: Prosecutors
A 35-year-old Saddle Brook resident was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a fatal overdose in Pequannock Township in 2021, authorities said. David Pezak was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 12, after pleading guilty to strict lability for a drug induced death back in December, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Pequannock Police Chief Daniel Comune said. On Monday, Nov. 15, 2021 police responded to an unresponsive woman at a residence in Pequannock, authorities said. The woman, identified as A.C., was pronounced dead at…
Police & Fire
Hotel Heroin Dealer With Young Kids Had 'Brick' Of Smack: Rochelle Park PD
A convicted drug dealer had two young children with him when a pair of Rochelle Park detectives caught him selling heroin at a hotel just off the Garden State Parkway, authorities said. Detectives Sgt. Jared Shatkin and Nick Mercoun were joined by a team of officers as Ricardo Murdock, 31, of Paterson did business in the parking lot of the Ramada By Wyndham at the Route 160 exit off the northbound parkway, Capt. James DePreta said. They seized Murdock, who was carrying Ecstasy and drug proceeds, and a male buyer, the captain said. Murdock has a rap sheet, mostly involving drugs, that stret…
Police & Fire
Drug Dealer Sold Fentanyl Elixir To 28-Year-Old Man Before Fatal Morris County OD: Cops
A 26-year-old man has been charged in the fatal overdose of a 28-year-old man last February in Morris County, authorities said. Anthony Dello Russo, of Cedar Knolls (Hanover), is believed to have sold a man identified only as T.H. the fentanyl and cocaine that killed him on Feb. 16, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said. The cause of death for T.H., who was found dead at a home in Whippany, was combined toxicity of cocaine, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl, Carroll said alongside Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Hanover Township Police Chief Michael Loock. Dello-R…
Police & Fire
SWAT Raid Turns Up Heroin, Meth, Ammo; 4 Arrested In Ocean County: Prosecutor
The raid of an Ocean County home turned up heroin, methamphetamine and ammunition, leading to the arrest of four people, authorities said. This investigation identified a residence in Berkeley Township as being utilized by Anthony Isola, 49, of Bayville, to store and sell drugs, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Based upon reliable information received, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and Berkeley Township Police Department initiated surveillance on the subject residence in Bayville on Tuesday, Oct. 24. That's when…
Police & Fire
Four Die From Fentanyl Sold By NJ Dealer: Feds
Four people were killed by fentanyl peddled by a dealer from Somerset County who was captured in the middle of another sale, authorities said. A federal judge in Newark ordered Mauricio Gutierrez, 50, of Somerset held following an initial court appearance on charges of distributing drugs that killed users. Special agents of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Newark took custody of Gutierrez after he was busted selling coke in Piscataway on Thursday, Sept. 28, authorities said. One of the buyers shared it with two other people that fateful June 2022 day, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger…
Police & Fire
Bergen Sheriff's Officer Helping Motorist On Route 4 Nearly Struck By OD'ing Driver
A Bergen County sheriff's officer escaped severe injury or worse when an overdosing driver sideswiped her cruiser as she helped another motorist who'd broken down on Route 4, authorities said. Christopher A. Hanna, a 42-year-old Parlin resident with an extensive criminal record, was headed west on the highway in a 2008 Infiniti G35 when the crash occurred near Madison Avenue in Teaneck shortly before 3 p.m. Sept. 20, local police records show. The sheriff's officer told Teaneck police she was out of her 2021 Ford Explorer with its lights on when she spotted the Infiniti swerving in and out …
Police & Fire
Crime Fighters From NJ Work Case Of Baby, 1, Killed By Fentanyl At NYC Day Care Center
The owner of a Bronx daycare center where a 1-year-old boy died from fentanyl exposure was seized by federal authorities on Tuesday along with her husband’s cousin. Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner of Divino Niño Daycare, and her alleged accomplice, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were charged by the federal government on Sept. 19 with possession with the intent and conspiracy to distribute drugs resulting in death. Meanwhile, a manhunt continued for De Ventura’s fugitive husband, who was identified as the leader of the drug operation. Children who napped where the defendants were cuttin…
Police & Fire
This
IS
Bail
Reform
? Judge Releases Accused Big-Time Paterson Dealer Busted In $1M Drug Raid
One of the biggest arguments for bail reform in New Jersey was that poor defendants regularly languished in jail, waiting for their cases to be heard, while drug dealers routinely paid their way out. Examples of offenders who are repeatedly caught and immediately released have dominated the debate over bail reform. New Jersey got a different example, however, with the arrest of a Dominican national described by authorities as a big-time Paterson drug dealer. Roughly 3½ pounds of fentanyl powder and 1,300 fentanyl pills were among nearly $1 million worth of narcotics seized from Pedro Rodr…
Police & Fire
Heroin Buyer Agrees To Rehab After Drive-By Paterson Dealer Is Caught: Rochelle Park Police
A keen-eyed Rochelle Park police detective notched two positives when he picked off a Paterson man peddling heroin to a local resident, authorities said. Detective Brian Cobb was driving an unmarked vehicle in the area of Lexington Avenue and High Street when he spotted the local man pacing and a silver Honda eventually pull up, Capt. James M. DePreta said. After watching a hand-to-hand-exchange, Cobb stopped the sedan and seized the driver, Nazhier Cleaves, 27, of Paterson, the captain said. Officers Anthony Ferrulli and Nick Mercoun tracked down the 41-year-old local buyer and found him …
Police & Fire
Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting
UPDATE: The leader of a Bloods subset that ruled some East Orange, Newark and Orange neighborhoods must spend the next 10 years in federal prison after he got stung selling PCP to an undercover agent. Tyree Thomas, 29, of Irvington -- known on the street as “Hellboy” -- had two loaded guns to protect the drugs and proceeds in a stash house that was raided after he repeatedly peddled phencyclidine to the agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Agents seized a 9mm Glock 19 and a .380-caliber Grendel P1O…
Police & Fire
Delaware Man Admits Peddling Heroin In NJ: Feds
A Delaware man admitted in federal court that he sold heroin in New Jersey, authorities said. Carl L. Jones, 49, of Newport, did business with "a confidential source who was working with law enforcement" in a commercial parking lot in Mount Laurel on March 29, 2019, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. According to Sellinger, Jones sold the informant a pound and a half of a a "mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin." Jones took a deal from the government rather than risk the potential consequences of a guilty verdict at a trial, pleading to drug po…
Police & Fire
Bergen County Man Charged In Fatal Morris County Overdose: Prosecutor
Police have arrested a 34-year-old Bergen County man in connection with the deadly 2021 overdose of a woman at a Pequannock Township home. David Pezak, formerly of Saddle Brook, was charged with first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death, conspiracy to distribute, distribution of a controlled substance, and other drug offenses, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said in a joint release on Monday, March 27. The charges stem from the fatal overdose of a woman identified as A.C. on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. A.C. was found unresponsive at the home and pronounced dead at the scen…
News
100 Pounds Of Pot, 30 Pounds Of Hash Oil, ‘Shrooms, More Seized In Route 17 Stop: Mahwah PD
An alert Mahwah police officer nabbed a driver from North Carolina on Route 17 with more than 100 pounds of pot, 30 pounds of cannabis oil and several pounds of “magic” mushrooms, authorities said. Officer Michael Silano stopped a Chrysler mini-van driven by Kobe P. Rockwell, 24, of Apex, NC, on the southbound highway for various motor vehicle violations, Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said on Tuesday, March 14. Silano requested a Bergen County Sheriff’s Office K-9, who indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle following Monday’s stop, the chief said. A search turned up the marijuana, the…
News
Federal Fort Lee Fentanyl Bust: Manhattan Man, 64, Could Get 10 Years Without Parole
A 64-year-old Manhattan man busted by federal Homeland Security agents for dealing nearly a pound of a drug mixture that contained fentanyl in Fort Lee took a guilty plea Tuesday rather than risk the outcome of a trial. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo scheduled sentencing for June 21 after Jose Migel Cleto pleaded guilty in Newark on Jan. 31 to distribution and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Cleto could still get 10 years, which has become a federal mandatory minimum for fentanyl trafficking -- a crime that prosecutors and j…
News
Ex-Con Had Coke, Oxy, Loaded Gun Within Child's Reach In Hackensack Apartment: Authorities
An ex-con with a lengthy rap sheet had cocaine, oxycodone and a loaded gun within reach of his young child in one of gentrified Hackensack’s newest apartment buildings, authorities said. Hassan Akeem Coleman, 36, kept the drugs, weapon and ammo in a sliding drawer in the kitchen of his fifth-floor downtown apartment at the Woolworth Residences on Main Street, they said. That made the youngster an abused, neglected and endangered child – which were among 17 charges filed against Coleman by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Secaucus police following a joint operation. …
Police & Fire
2 Busted For Selling Drugs Following Morris County Traffic Stop: Police
A driver and passenger were arrested for selling drugs following a traffic stop in Morris County, authorities said. Jeanne Hicks, 51, of Denville, was pulled over on Lackawanna Avenue in Denville for motor vehicle violations on Monday, Sept. 19, Police Capt. Jeffrey Tucker said. A follow-up investigation found that Hicks, as well as the vehicle’s passenger, Ronald Washington, 62, of Dover, were in possession of drugs and paraphernalia, Tucker said in a release. Washington was also found with a large amount of cash, police said. Both were arrested and charged with possession of drugs with …
Police & Fire
Distribution Charges Dropped For Jersey City Man Due To Detective's Testimony, Court Rules
A Jersey City man will have drug distribution charges dropped after a prosecutor "improperly" elicited testimony from a police detective, who reportedly offered his opinion on the defendant's state of mind court papers show. When asked by a prosecutor if he believed Terrell Tucker had drugs with the intention of distributing them, officer Patrick Egan — the sole testifying witness — replied "in the affirmative" and described what he saw. Egan, the 10-year JCPD veteran, said that he saw Tucker engage in "suspected narcotics activity" near 96 Grand Ave. around 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2020.…
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