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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…
Again: Big Purple Bud Bus Guy, Woman Arrested After Series Of Raids Across NJ, NY, Cops Say
The New York owner of a popular cannabis company known for its fleet of purple buses and vans was taken into custody, as was a woman, on Wednesday, July 10, following a series of raids across New Jersey and New York, authorities said.
Searches on Bill Schlette’s Bud Bus Inc. locations Hewitt, Manahawkin, Keyport, and West Nyack, NY turned up $200,000 in cash, according to West Milford Police Capt. Parrello.
Back in May, West Milford police executed search warrants at five Bud Bus locations in town where 150 pounds of marijuana were seized, along with $11,000 in cash, police said. A warrant …
Mass Amounts Of Cocaine, $17K Seized From Mom-Son Duo In Bloomfield, Newark SWAT Raids: Cops
Detectives have put a stop to one family's cocaine distribution business in a series of raids across Essex County Tuesday, July 9, authorities said.
More than 10,000 vials of cocaine, several hundred grams of cocaine, $17,600 in cash and a handgun with an extended magazine were seized by detectives, ultimately leading to charges against Edwin Medina, 32 and his mother, Sandra Almodovar, 51, both of Newark, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II announced.
Detectives from the ECPO Narcotics Task Force first seized more than a kilo of suspected cocaine in a series of…
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…
FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market
Five reputed members and associates of the Sex, Money, Murder gang were charged by federal authorities with peddling fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine at an open-air drug market in Newark.
Drugs and loaded guns were seized during the arrests early last month of the quintet, who U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said slung the potentially lethal narcotics from the neighborhood at Kent and Brenner streets.
He identified them as Fuquan Williams, 33; Dwight Dixon, 52; Nafee Patterson, 41; Jabriel Mason, 20; and Daqwuan Barkley, 29, all of Essex County.
A federal magistrate judge in New…
Jersey Shore Ex-Con Sentenced For Multi-Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl, Coke, Gun
An ex-con caught with several pounds of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl —not to mention a loaded gun — in his Ocean County apartment has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Dyshawn Moss, 43, of Manchester, was found guilty of drug and weapons offenses, including being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, in U.S. District Court in Trenton last year.
U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp sentenced Moss on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
In addition to having an informant buy drugs from Moss, DEA agents used "physical surveillance, court-authorized location information, controlled pu…
