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Police & Fire
Help Sought Finding Atlantic City Fugitive Who 'Laundered $107K Through Casinos': State Police Help Sought Finding Atlantic City Fugitive Who 'Laundered $107K Through Casinos': State Police
Help Sought Finding Atlantic City Fugitive Who 'Laundered $107K Through Casinos': State Police New Jersey State Police seek the public's help locating a fugitive from Atlantic City who is accused of using local casinos to launder $107,000 gained through selling methamphetamines. Jordan Ragland, 31, faces various drug, weapon and money laundering charges after an active investigation started in September 2020 by the New Jersey State Police Special Investigations Unit Casino Gaming Bureau. Ragland is accused of receiving several shipments of meth in the mail at a residence on Connecticut Avenue in Atlantic City, State Police said. Ragland was later linked to about $107,000 worth of “s…

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by Jon Craig
News
4½ Pounds Of Fentanyl Seized, Mexican Nationals Nabbed By DEA, Bergen Prosecutor's Detectives 4½ Pounds Of Fentanyl Seized, Mexican Nationals Nabbed By DEA, Bergen Prosecutor's Detectives
4½ Pounds Of Fentanyl Seized, Mexican Nationals Nabbed By DEA, Bergen Prosecutor's Detectives Federal agents took custody of two Mexican nationals from Texas who local authorities said were caught with several pounds of deadly fentanyl during a traffic stop in Little Ferry. Camerino Hernandez-Atanacio, 32, and Alexis Araujo-Atanacio, 19, both unemployed, had been living in a small house with an adjacent trailer in the West Texas town of Odessa, records show. DEA agents from New York City and Bergen County narcotics detectives arrested both men last Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into bulk drug shipments being moved through the area, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Mus…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown
NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown A manager of a major New Jersey drug ring who's awaiting trial for shooting two undercover detectives must spend 13 years in federal custody after taking a plea deal from the government in a separate case. Juan Figueroa, 25, was the last of 19 members of the Bloods-related group who were convicted following a federal assault on an open-air drug market in Camden that provided walkup and drive-by service to its customers. Figueroa and two associates were also charged in state court with ambushing two Camden County Police detectives who were investigating the ring, which peddled heroin, crack,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User
Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User A Bergenfield man was seized at his home on Friday and charged with supplying the drugs that killed a 34-year-old Hackensack user nearly five weeks ago. Stevie J. Killins, 59, was sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack following his March 3 arrest, city Police Capt. Michael Antista said. Killins -- also known as Steven Bease -- is charged with the strict liability death of the overdose victim on Jan. 28, the captain said. He's also charged with various drug possession counts for heroin and illegal prescription pills tha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fentanyl, Cocaine Dealer Busted At NJ Hotel: Prosecutor Fentanyl, Cocaine Dealer Busted At NJ Hotel: Prosecutor
Fentanyl, Cocaine Dealer Busted At NJ Hotel: Prosecutor A 35-year-old man allegedly was busted with a variety of drugs at a Somerset hotel, authorities said. Anthony L. Banks of North Brunswick was charged with numerous drug offenses, according to Franklin Township police and the Somerset County prosecutor. Prosecutor John P. McDonald said Banks' arrest was the result of a two-month investigation of drug deals allegedly taking place at a hotel on Cedar Grove Lane in Somerset. On Monday, Feb. 27, Banks was arrested by Task Force Officers as he exited the unnamed hotel without incident, McDonald said. A warranted search of Banks' hotel room yiel…

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by Jon Craig
News
CARRY THAT WEIGHT: Bergen Detectives Bust NYC Five With 1,100 Pounds Of Pot, 50 Lbs Of Edibles CARRY THAT WEIGHT: Bergen Detectives Bust NYC Five With 1,100 Pounds Of Pot, 50 Lbs Of Edibles
Carry That Weight: Bergen Detectives Bust NYC Five With 1,100 Pounds Of Pot, 50 Lbs Of Edibles More than a half-ton of pot and 50 pounds of edibles were seized by Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives who charged five jobless men from Queens with moving large drug shipments in and around Fort Lee. Narcotic Task Force members raided two storage facilities – one near the George Washington Bridge and the other in Jersey City – and conducted warranted searches of four vehicles in Fort Lee during the Valentine’s Day cannabust, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Arrested were: Jingru Chen, 29; Fenglei Fan, 35; Lifan Feng, 21; XingXiang Gao, 27; Weiqi Wu, 25. All five remain…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Hudsonite Nabbed Accepting Mail-Order Fentanyl From Mexico Pleads Out Feds: Hudsonite Nabbed Accepting Mail-Order Fentanyl From Mexico Pleads Out
Feds: Hudsonite Nabbed Accepting Mail-Order Fentanyl From Mexico Pleads Out A Hudson County man admitted accepting mail-order fentanyl destined for New Jersey’s streets that shipped to his home from Mexico, federal authorities said. Miguel Polanco, 31, even watched a how-to video on how to handle the shipment, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said following a plea hearing in Newark on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Polanco became the focus of an investigation after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted the package from Mexico City on its way to his Union City apartment, Sellinger said. He had previously received a video from a conspirator “exp…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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50,000 Pills: Feds Hold Accused Fentanyl Trafficker From Mexico In Bergen Jail After NYC Bust 50,000 Pills: Feds Hold Accused Fentanyl Trafficker From Mexico In Bergen Jail After NYC Bust
50,000 Pills: Feds Hold Accused Fentanyl Trafficker From Mexico In Bergen Jail After NYC Bust Federal authorities kept an accused fentanyl trafficker in custody at the Bergen County Jail after they said they caught her selling 50,000 potentially fatal fentanyl pills in Manhattan. Agari Reyes-Sillero, a 34-year-old Mexican national, got into a cooperator’s car in with the multi-colored pills packed into four protein powder containers on Feb. 5, 2023, a complaint signed by a DEA agent alleges. She expected to be paid $400,000 in return, the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan says. Members of a task force comprised of DEA agents, the NYPD and the New Yo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown
New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown A New Milford resident was one of more than a dozen purported Triniarious gang members arrested in a lightning-strike series of raids on both sides of the Hudson River, authorities confirmed. Fentanyl and an unspecified amount of illegal proceeds were seized during the New Milford raid around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, a source close to the takedown told Daily Voice. Meanwhile, in New York City, 10 accused members of the Washington Heights faction of the Trinitarios were nabbed as part of the operation, led by members of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations New York office and including t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Man Admits Selling Cocaine: Prosecutor Jersey Shore Man Admits Selling Cocaine: Prosecutor
Jersey Shore Man Admits Selling Cocaine: Prosecutor A 45-year-old Jersey Shore man has admitted selling a large quantify of cocaine, authorities said. Mark Kelber, of Manalapan, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine in an amount greater than five ounces with intent to distribute, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Kelber was arrested as part of “Operation Checkmate,” a four-month-long cooperative, multi-jurisdictional investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, United States Drug Enforcement Administration – High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (H…

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by Jon Craig
News
‘War Ready’: Armed NJ Heroin Dealer Sentenced To 19 Years Without Parole ‘War Ready’: Armed NJ Heroin Dealer Sentenced To 19 Years Without Parole
‘War Ready’: Armed NJ Heroin Dealer Sentenced To 19 Years Without Parole UPDATE: A New Jersey drug dealer who once served state prison time is headed to a federal penitentiary for a plea-bargained 19 years without parole. Jakir “Jak” Taylor, 32, was a key figure in an alliance of two violent rival gangs who once dominated the heroin trade on Trenton’s north and west side neighborhoods, authorities said. He's also the last of 26 defendants swept up in a joint law enforcement operation that smashed that operation. Taylor and conspirator Jerome Roberts collected heroin bricks by the hundreds from David “Papi” Antonio that were sold in individual bags, authorities …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Leader Of Jersey City Drug Crew Sentenced To More Than 4 Years Without Parole Leader Of Jersey City Drug Crew Sentenced To More Than 4 Years Without Parole
Leader Of Jersey City Drug Crew Sentenced To More Than 4 Years Without Parole The leader of a crew that slung cocaine and heroin in the Greenville section of Jersey City was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison. Jerome Powell, 43, must serve just about all of the plea-bargained 51-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He and four accused members worked in the area of Columbia Park, moving the drugs from an undisclosed stash house to a home on Bartholdi Avenue that servied buyers, according to a DEA complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. Authorities built a case by recording street deals and picking off buy…

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by Jerry DeMarco