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78°
Wednesday, jun 3
Tag:
Methamphetamine
News
‘Call Me Daddy' Creepy Church Leader, Soccer Coach Raped Girl Before Kidnapping Her To Mexico
Kevin Esterly — the Pennsylvania man who ran off to Mexico with a teenage girl in 2018 — has now been convicted of repeatedly raping the same victim when she was a child, prosecutors announced on Wednesday, March 5. The disturbing allegations first emerged when the victim came forward to police in February 2025, saying Esterly had sexually abused her for years, beginning when she was a child. A jury convicted Esterly, now 53, of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and endangering the welfare of children following a trial that began with jury selection on …
News
NJ Fugitive Who Trafficked Meth Busted In California: AG
A 33-year-old Absecon man and one of New Jersey's Most Wanted was arrested in California, authorities announced Thursday, Dec. 11. Jordan Ragland was arrested in Sacramento in September by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force, with assistance from the New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Ragland was wanted for maintaining a controlled dangerous substance production facility, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, unlawful possession of an assault firearm, and unlawful possession of a semi-automatic pistol, Platkin said.…
Police & Fire
24K Folds Of Heroin, Guns Seized In Massive Elizabeth Drug Bust: Prosecutor
Eight people were arrested and thousands of folds of heroin seized in a major narcotics operation in Elizabeth, authorities said. On Friday, Sept. 12, members of the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Intelligence and Narcotics Division, Elizabeth Police Department Narcotics Unit and Emergency Services Unit, the DEA, Department of Homeland Security, the Union County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, and Union County SWAT executed multiple search warrants across the city, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel said. The raids turned up 24,920 folds of suspected heroin, 1,460 grams of suspected cocaine, 2…
Police & Fire
Drug
Bust
: 121 Pounds Of Marijuana, LSD, Meth Seized In NJ Raid, Cops Say
Six people are facing charges after police seized large quantities of drugs — including marijuana, LSD, methamphetamine, and cocaine — from a New Jersey home, authorities said. The Sunday, Aug. 25 search warrant was carried out by detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, along with multiple law enforcement agencies, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The search turned up approximately 121 pounds of marijuana, 100 pounds of THC products, 75 pounds of cannabis concentrate, seven sheets of LSD, two pounds of methamphetamine, 20 pounds of…
News
Police Chief, Marine, Dad In Federal Prison For Meth Pleads Guilty In Mushrooms Tampering Case
A father, Marine veteran, and former police chief in Pennsylvania already serving federal prison time for meth trafficking has now pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in a case tied to missing mushrooms, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli announced on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. Former Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning pleaded guilty to three counts of tampering with evidence before Common Pleas Judge Michael Stewart, according to the DA’s office. Judge Stewart sentenced Denning to one year of probation. The case stems from a February 2023 audit of the Greensburg…
Police & Fire
Cocaine, Meth, Fentanyl, Firearms: 14 People Charged In South Jersey Trafficking Ring
Fourteen people have been charged with weapons offenses for their roles in a South Jersey drug trafficking organization, authorities announced Thursday, July 17. Ryan Collins, the leader of the group and a Crips gang member, is charged with being the leader of a narcotics trafficking network, distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine, and promoting organized street crime, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. The 33-year-old Vineland resident also faces weapons offenses involving two assault firearms, a handgun, and large-capacity magazines, as well as charges stemming from the sale of fe…
News
Rooftop Chase, NJ Fugitive, Switch Guns: PA AG Sunday’s Philly Task Force Nabs 7 Armed Felons
A violent felon chased across a North Philly rooftop. A wanted man tied to New Jersey. Teens flaunting illegal machine gun-modified pistols on social media. All arrested in a wave of takedowns led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force, officials announced Tuesday, July 15. Philly Gun Task Force Targets Repeat Offenders Seven people — including convicted shooters and suspected drug traffickers — were recently arrested in coordinated raids across Philadelphia, state prosecutors said. The cases involve illegal switches that convert pistols into fu…
Police & Fire
22 Grams Of Heroin, 6 Handguns, 24 Arrests: Prosecutor Announces Massive Union County Drug Bust
A drug raid in Union County on Thursday, May 29, resulted in the arrest of 24 people and the seizure of illegal drugs, firearms and money, authorities said. Numerous police departments and SWAT teams participated in the raid, which involved 14 search warrants throughout North Jersey, Union County Prosecutor William Daniel and Linden Police Chief David Hart said. The raids were part of a comprehensive investigation by the Union County Intelligence and Narcotics Division and the Linden Police Department Narcotics Bureau targeting a drug distribution networ…
Police & Fire
Route 3 Hotel Horror: Man Held Hostage By Pair With Hypodermic Needle For Hours, Cops Say
A man was allegedly held against his will inside a Secaucus motel room for more than two hours while one of his captors blocked the door with a hypodermic needle, police said. Officers responded to the Rodeway Inn on Route 3 East on Sunday, March 2, at 3:19 p.m., after receiving a report of a victim being held hostage inside a room, according to Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller. When police arrived, they found the man inside and immediately removed him to safety while detaining two men at the scene, authorities said. Investigators determined that Kevin Bazemore, 44, of Hackensack, physi…
Police & Fire
Ghost Guns, Meth, Firearm Seized From Pair In Ocean County Raid: AG
Two Ocean County residents are facing charges following a raid on Wednesday, Feb. 19 that turned up numerous ghost guns and methamphetamine, authorities said. Law enforcement conducted search warrants at multiple locations and recovered and seized, guns, including guns with no serial number- "ghost guns," extended magazines, and a quantity of methamphetamine, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. The defendants, George Garulle, 56, of Beachwood, and Dana Restaino, 39, of Whiting, conspired to sell a defaced firearm with no serial number, Platkin said. They were charge…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
Newark Man Convicted Of Gun Possession: Essex County Prosecutor
A 39-year-old Newark man was convicted on Friday, Nov. 22 of gun possession following a two-day trial, authorities said. In September 2021, Keiron Murray and another man were standing in front of a vacant lot at 169 Chapman St. in Orange, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II said. The officers instructed the men to leave the area, Stephens said. Upon returning two hours later, the officers discovered a gun, a hollow-point bullet, and methamphetamine on the ground near a parked car, Stephens said. Murray was convicted of gun possession, drug possession, resisting arrest and diso…
Police & Fire
NJ Police Sergeant Tests Positive For Meth, Took Drugs From Evidence Room: Prosecutor
A police sergeant in Hammonton is facing multiple charges after testing positive for methamphetamine and taking drugs from the department's evidence room, authorities said. Detective Sergeant Robert Zbikowski, 45, of Hammonton, was charged on Monday, Nov. 25, with second-degree official misconduct, second-degree pattern of official misconduct, third-degree theft by unlawful taking, and two fourth-degree charges: tampering with physical evidence and obstruction of law, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. In 2024, the Hammonton Police Department contacted the Atlantic County…
Police & Fire
Man Tries Ramming Route 3 Gas Attendant With U-Haul, Splashes Police With Urine: Cops
A 27-year-old Bergen County man is facing charges for trying to ram a Route 3 gas attendant with a vehicle and then assaulting a police officer, authorities said. Nelson Castellon, of Ridgefield Park, was in a U-Haul van when he tried to hit the attendant at the Exxon station at 445 Route 3 West around 12:40 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. Police found the van in the parking lot of TJ Maxx located at 21 Millcreek Drive and a motor vehicle stop was conducted. Officers learned that Castellon also threatened the attendant, Miller said. While in the cell block…
News
NJ Women Drugged With Meth-Infused Tequila, Sexually Assaulted By 'Sugar Daddy,' Complaint Says
A newly obtained criminal complaint details how a 40-year-old Pennsylvania man drugged and sexually assaulted six women during their dates from hell at his home. All of the women, including two from New Jersey, met Andrew Gallo, of Levittown, PA on sugardaddymeet.com. Gallo appeared to have followed the exact same playbook, police papers show: He'd brag about his bartending skills then pour them a drink from open bottles and hop in the shower shower. When he got out, he'd give the women a tour of his home, telling them how he rebuilt it after a fire. It was somewhere around this point …
News
PA Man Accused Of Drugging, Assaulting Women He Met On Sugar Daddy Site, DA Says
At least six women are known to have been sexually assaulted after going out with a man they met on an online dating site who ended up drugging them, District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Bristol Township Police Chief Robert Coulton announced on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Andrew Gallo, 40, of Copper Beech Lane, Bristol Township, was charged with five counts of rape by causing impairment, six counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, four counts of strangulation, two counts of selling or furnishing liquor or malt or brewed beverage to minors, and one count each of s…
Police & Fire
Four Newark Men Robbed Postal Worker At Gunpoint: Feds
Four Newark men were arrested and charged on Thursday, Aug. 1 with robbing a postal worker at gunpoint last November, authorities said. Last November, three people, including Troy Corbett, 28, and Dyshawn Williams, 28 stole the victim's cell phone, keys and wallet, containing a credit card and debit card, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. The robbery is a federal crime, since it impeded the postal worker from delivering mail, interfering with interstate commerce, Sellinger said. After the robbery, Antwuan Brown, 24, and Karleem Stamps, 25, used the stolen debit card to make separate purc…
Police & Fire
NJ Woman Who Dealt Meth, Cocaine Via FedEx Gets 10 Years, US Attorney Says
A 32-year-old Newark woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, July 11, after being convicted of possessing cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, authorities said. In March 2021, two FedEx parcels addressed to a "John Brown" in Newark were intercepted by law enforcement and found to contain cocaine, US Attorney Philip Sellinger said. An undercover officer disguised as a FedEx driver delivered the package of cocaine to Mahogany Hawkins, Sellinger said. Officers showed up at Hawkins' place again, but when they identified themselves as law enforcement, Hawki…
Police & Fire
Fentanyl Dealer's Own Carelessness In Jersey City Hotel Gets Him 16 Years In Federal Prison
A 45-year-old Jersey City man was recently sentenced to 16 years in prison for drug distribution and weapons offenses after he left two guns behind in a hotel room, authorities said. Jabar Evans was convicted last October of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, US Attorney Philip Sellinger said. In June 2021, Evans ran a fentanyl manufacturing facility in a Jersey City hotel room. He moved his facility from one hotel room to a new larger room at the hotel, Sellinge…
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