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Violent NJ Human Trafficking Rings Dismantled Where Women, Teens Were Forced Into Sex: AG
Seven people have been arrested in the dismantling two human trafficking rings, one in North Jersey and one in South Jersey, authorities said.
The rings were based in Essex County and Cumberland County, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said at a news conference on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Khailah Meekins, 21 and Donte Barkley, 28, both Newark residents, trafficked two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old in Essex County, Platkin said. Meekins and Barkley arranged sexual encounters for the girls through mobile apps that included online ads featuring nude photos of the minors. The girls would be…
$1.1M In Drugs, 5 Firearms, $65K Seized From NJ Man, Prosecutor Says
A 35-year-old Mercer County man is facing a slew of charges after investigators uncovered $1.1 million in drugs, five handguns, and $65,000 in cash from him, authorities said.
James Nalbone Jr., 35, of Hamilton Township, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 7, following a month-long investigation, Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Theresa L. Hilton said.
Detectives detained Nalbone at his home on Byron Avenue and executed a search warrant, Hilton said. Sgt. Tom Paglione's K-9 partner, Indy, gave positive indications of a drug odor at multiple locations within the premises, poli…
Woman Sentenced For Using Son In Marijuana, Mushroom 'Business' On Jersey Shore: Prosecutors
A Somers Point woman will spend several years in prison after admitting to using her teen son to sell marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms through an unlicensed business promoted on Facebook, authorities said.
Donna Shiffler, 40, was sentenced on Tuesday, July 9 to five years in state prison, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release. She pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Apr. 30 to first-degree employing a juvenile, first-degree possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, first-degree maintaining a production facility, and second-degree endangering the welfare of a…
South Jersey Man Admits To Racist Amazon Driver Threats, Illegally Growing Weed: Prosecutor
A Lacey Township man admitted to racist threats against an Amazon driver and illegally selling large amounts of marijuana, authorities said.
John Vincentini, 64, pleaded guilty in two separate cases on Friday, June 7, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He and his wife, 64-year-old Karen Vincentini, have been held in the Ocean County Jail since March.
John Vincentini pleaded guilty to bias intimidation after he was indicted back in June 2023. He was accused of threatening an Amazon delivery driver on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022.
Investi…
Drug-Dealing Duo Found With Heroin, Fentanyl, Crack In South Jersey: Prosecutors
A man and a woman were accused of using two Ocean County homes to sell several drugs, including heroin mixed with fentanyl and crack cocaine, authorities said.
Nicholas Ryland, 32, of Cream Ridge, and Quadazia Scott, 33, of Berkeley Township, were arrested after a three-month investigation. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced their arrests in a news release on Tuesday, May 7.
Police began surveillance on two suspected homes in Toms River and Berkeley Township on Thursday, May 2. Detectives saw Ryland and Scott leave the Berkeley home in their vehicles.
Ryland…
Feds: Nine Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Fentanyl, Coke, More At Open-Air Drug Market
Nine reputed members and associates of the Sex, Money, Murder street gang were charged by Homeland Security agents in New Jersey with peddling fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine at an open-air drug market.
Working with local law enforcers, agents with HSI Investigations Newark homed in on a neighborhood on West 3rd Street in Plainfield where the subset of the Bloods controlled the drug trade, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.
For months, they witnessed and recorded sales, conducted undercover buys -- some by confidential informants -- and analyzed phone records, the U.S. attorney said.
…
Drug-Dealing Trio Arrested With Meth, Heroin, Crack, MDMA In South Jersey: Prosecutors
Three people were accused of selling several types of drugs throughout Ocean County, authorities said.
William Manser, 44, and Jacquelyn Smith, 33, both of Berkeley Township, and Justina Candelaria, 44, of Barnegat, were arrested, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release on Friday, Apr. 5. Their arrests came after a monthlong investigation into drugs sold in the county.
Investigators began surveillance on a Berkeley Township home suspected of being used to store and sell drugs on Wednesday, Mar. 20. Police arrested Manser and Candelaria after they were…
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
A California man was minutes from a dropoff after driving more than a dozen pounds of fentanyl and heroin cross country to New Jersey when he was stopped in Fort Lee for running a stop sign, authorities said.
Timothy Alan Blank, 54, of Reseda, CA, made it 2,800 miles before Fort Lee police pulled his SUV over in Englewood Cliffs north of Sylvan and Myrtle avenues last Friday, March 8, according to a federal complaint.
A Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 directed officers to the trunk, where it says they found the five kilos wrapped in five bricks.
Blank collected the wrapped $195,000 of heroin a…
Central Jersey Drug Dealer Found In Atlantic City With Heroin, Cocaine: Police
A Mercer County man was accused of selling heroin and cocaine in Atlantic City, authorities said.
Leroy Clark, 44, of Ewing, was arrested on Friday, Mar. 8, Atlantic City police said in a Wednesday, Mar. 13 news release. An officer saw Clark selling drugs to another man on the 1500 block of Atlantic Avenue at around 4:45 p.m.
Two other officers were able to arrest him, and investigators searched his vehicle and hotel room. Police seized 420 bags of heroin, nearly 10 ounces of cocaine, and items for selling drugs.
Clark was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled d…
SWAT Team Seizes Firearms, $21K In Drugs From NJ Trio In Major Bust: Cops
Four handguns, five high-capacity magazines, and $21,000 in drugs were seized from three men following a narcotics investigation in Somerset County, authorities said.
Brothers Christian, 22 and Sean Lebron, 20, along with Juan Martinez, 21, are facing numerous charges following the investigation, which concluded on Friday, Jan. 26 in Hillsborough, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said.
Raids at the home of the three men — Martinez, of Gemini Drive, and the Lebrons, on South Branch Road — turned up four handguns with five high-capacity magazines; 770 Xanax pills, 10 Oxycodo…