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BUSTED: Takedown Of Jersey Shore Heroin Ring Nets Firearm, Drugs, $11K In Cash, 7 Arrests BUSTED: Takedown Of Jersey Shore Heroin Ring Nets Firearm, Drugs, $11K In Cash, 7 Arrests
Busted: Takedown Of Jersey Shore Heroin Ring Nets Firearm, Drugs, $11K In Cash, 7 Arrests Law enforcement agents arrested seven people and seized heroin, ecstasy thousands of dollars in cash, and a firearm following a massive Ocean County drug bust, authorities said. Detectives from several SWAT teams and law enforcement agencies executed search warrants were executed March 31 at two Toms River homes and a room at the Ocean view Inn, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The searches turned up approximately 3,210 wax folds of heroin, 52 ecstasy pills, a loaded .38 caliber revolver, drug paraphernalia, and approximately $11,700 in cash, Billhimer said. Kevin Mo…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
BUSTED: 'Operation Price Is Right' Nabs 11 In Central Jersey Drug Ring BUSTED: 'Operation Price Is Right' Nabs 11 In Central Jersey Drug Ring
Busted: 'Operation Price Is Right' Nabs 11 In Central Jersey Drug Ring Eleven people have been arrested in Central Jersey in connection with a large-scale drug distribution ring, authorities said.  Most of the alleged cocaine and heroin deals occurred in Union and Middlesex counties, according to  Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone. The sting was called "Operation Price Is Right." More than 20 warranted searches resulted in the recovery of over two kilograms of suspected cocaine, over one kilogram of suspected heroin, approximately 149 grams of fentanyl, 70 grams of Oxycodone, one loaded Smith and Wesson revolver and over $120,000 in su…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: NJ Man With 200 Heroin Folds Found Riding In Car With New Year's Shooting Fugitive Prosecutor: NJ Man With 200 Heroin Folds Found Riding In Car With New Year's Shooting Fugitive
Prosecutor: NJ Man With 200 Heroin Folds Found Riding In Car With New Year's Shooting Fugitive Police tracking down a man wanted in a drug investigation found him with 200 folds of heroin and other drugs while riding in a vehicle also occupied by a fugitive wanted in a New Year's shooting, authorities in Somerset County said. Armando Ortiz Jr., 23, of Bound Brook, was the target of a heroin-distribution investigation when authorities saw him arriving at an undisclosed area in a vehicle occupied by two other individuals on Feb. 25 around 7:45 p.m., Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said.  As authorities approached Oritz for questioning, he tossed a 200 wax fold…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Accused Drug Dealer Caused Fatal Fentanyl Overdose, Burlington Prosecutor Says Accused Drug Dealer Caused Fatal Fentanyl Overdose, Burlington Prosecutor Says
Accused Drug Dealer Caused Fatal Fentanyl Overdose, Burlington Prosecutor Says A 34-year-old man from Trenton has been arrested in connection with the overdose death of a South Jersey drug user, authorities said. A Browns Mills man fatally overdosed on fentanyl that the alleged drug dealer sold to him last year, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David King. Marvin Montoya of Power Street in Trenton was charged with strict liability for drug-induced death, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and conspiracy, Coffina and King said. Montoya was taken into custody on Monday in Trenton and was bein…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Police Bust Massive Drug Operation In North Jersey Hotel Room Netting 6 Arrests, Heroin, Coke Police Bust Massive Drug Operation In North Jersey Hotel Room Netting 6 Arrests, Heroin, Coke
Police Bust Massive Drug Operation In North Jersey Hotel Room Netting 6 Arrests, Heroin, Coke Two women in the process of dumping cocaine into a hotel room sink drain were interrupted by police who found MDMA, heroin, suboxone and other drug paraphernalia, Secaucus police said. Police were conducting a "park and walk" in the Harmon Meadow area of Secaucus when someone notified them of possible nefarious activity inside one of the rooms on Feb. 16, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. After a week-long investigation, police went into the hotel room whree Ana Roman and Tracy Eayres were in the process of dumping cocaine into a sink drain, Miller said. A search of the room turned…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine Stored In Jersey Shore Apartment Prosecutor: Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine Stored In Jersey Shore Apartment
Prosecutor: Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine Stored In Jersey Shore Apartment A 20-year-old man from Lakewood has been arrested for using an apartment in Toms River to deal cocaine, fentanyl and heroin, authorities said. Rizjoun Smullen was taken into custody on Wednesday on drug distribution charges, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. An joint investigation with Toms River police found an apartment in the Hampton Gardens Apartment Complex being used to store and distribute quantities of illegal controlled dangerous substances, according to Billhimer. Detectives made a warranted search on an apartment used by Smullen and s…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Man Running Cocaine Mill Sold Drugs Near North Brunswick Elementary School Prosecutor: Man Running Cocaine Mill Sold Drugs Near North Brunswick Elementary School
Prosecutor: Man Running Cocaine Mill Sold Drugs Near North Brunswick Elementary School A 44-year-old man was jailed after law enforcement found he was running a cocaine mill out of his North Brunswick home -- and distributing the drugs within 1,000 feet of a local elementary school, authorities announced Wednesday. An investigation of Jeremy Franklin's home turned up "a large amount of what is believed to be cocaine and cash," Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and North Brunswick Deputy Chief Joseph Battaglia said. Franklin was arrested on Dec. 29 and on charges of maintaining or operating a premise used to manufacture cocaine, distribution of a controlled…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Route 80 Stop: Hotel Manager From Virginia Busted With $125,000 Worth Of Pot, Prosecutor Says Route 80 Stop: Hotel Manager From Virginia Busted With $125,000 Worth Of Pot, Prosecutor Says
Route 80 Stop: Hotel Manager From Virginia Busted With $125,000 Worth Of Pot, Prosecutor Says The operations manager of a Virginia hotel was charged with first-degree drug possession after Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives said they caught him with 50 pounds of pot during a Route 80 traffic stop. Ryan Barnes, 45, who was traveling alone, had “inconsistencies in his story” after Narcotics Task Force investigators stopped his vehicle on the westbound highway in Bogota on Tuesday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Mark Musella said. A Bergen County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit responded and positively indicated the presence of drugs, which Musella said was found in suitcases in the trunk a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Arrested For Selling Heroin, Coke Hours After Parole Release Under Murphy COVID Law NJ Man Arrested For Selling Heroin, Coke Hours After Parole Release Under Murphy COVID Law
NJ Man Arrested For Selling Heroin, Coke Hours After Parole Release Under Murphy COVID Law A Sussex County man was arrested for selling heroin and crack cocaine, just hours after being released from parole supervision last week, authorities said. Leighton A. Brown, 42, of Newton, was arrested at his home last Wednesday, and charged with distribution of heroin and crack cocaine, as well as selling CDS within 1,000 feet of a school zone, police said. Brown was released from parole supervision on Nov. 4, under Gov. Murphy’s COVID-19 law that reduced and ended parole time, police said. He was being held at Morris County Jail in accordance with the Criminal Justice Reform Act. …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Brick Police Bust Atlantic City Man With 1,308 Heroin Folds Brick Police Bust Atlantic City Man With 1,308 Heroin Folds
Brick Police Bust Atlantic City Man With 1,308 Heroin Folds A 26-year-old man from Atlantic City was busted in Ocean County on Friday with an estimated 27 bricks of heroin in his car, authorities said.  Bilal Freeman and a passenger were stopped about 12:30 a.m. in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Chambers Ridge Road, Brick police said.  Brick Patrol Officer Scott Mesmer spoke with.both of the car's occupants and they gave different stories about there they were coming from and where they were going, police said. Brick  K9 Officer Scott Smith and his canine partner Echo performed an exterior narcotics sniff of the vehicl…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Brick Couple Arrested For Producing Hallucinogens, Dealing 'Magic Mushrooms' Brick Couple Arrested For Producing Hallucinogens, Dealing 'Magic Mushrooms'
Brick Couple Arrested For Producing Hallucinogens, Dealing 'Magic Mushrooms' An overseas package of hallucinogens led federal and local law enforcement officers to arrest a Brick Township couple on multiple drug production and distribution charges, authorities said. Patrick Fasano, 31, and Maria Fasano, 27, both have been charged with operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility, possession of firearms and multiple drug-dealing and possession charges, according to Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan. After the U.S. Department of Homeland Security intercepted a suspicious package from the Netherlands -- which was addre…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Authorities: Forked River Trio Arrested With 9,800 Doses Of Heroin, Fentanyl Authorities: Forked River Trio Arrested With 9,800 Doses Of Heroin, Fentanyl
Authorities: Forked River Trio Arrested With 9,800 Doses Of Heroin, Fentanyl Three residents of Forked River have been arrested for dealing heroin and fentanyl in Ocean County, authorities said. Law enforcement officers searched three suspects' residences in Lacey Township -- seizing about 9,800 individual doses of heroin/fentanyl and five grams of unpackaged heroin/fentanyl, according to Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan, Jr.  Arrested on various drug possession and distribution charges were: Larry Negron, 44; Bryanna Negron, 24; and Saul Padilla, 42, all of Forked River. Local police joined the investigation wi…

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by Jon Craig