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74°
Friday, jun 12
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 NJ 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
Newark Residents Arrested After Human Trafficking Ring Busted: State 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…
Police & Fire
Busted
: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown
A trio of Trinitarios street gang members who shared an apartment in Fort Lee slung fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin on both sides of the Hudson River before being busted last week, federal authorities charged. Ernesto Adon Martinez, 38, Luis Arismedy Gomez Torres, 28, and Deury Luis Gomez Torres, 25, drove back and forth "on a near-daily basis" between Fort Lee and an apartment just off Dyckman Street in the Fort George section of Manhattan where drugs were packaged and stashed, they said.The Trinitarios emerged in New York City in the 1990s as protection against rival gangs such as th…
Police & Fire
Fugitive Caught With Meth After Lengthy Pursuit In Hudson Valley: Police
A fugitive wanted in another state was caught with methamphetamine after leading authorities on a long chase throughout the Hudson Valley in an unregistered vehicle with switched plates, police said. New Jersey resident Sean McDermott, age 34, of Hoboken, was arrested on Wednesday, March 6 following a pursuit that began in Westchester and ended in Putnam County, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office announced on Monday, March 11. According to authorities, at around 12:15 p.m. on the day of McDermott's arrest, a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Elmsford traveled into Putnam County…
Police & Fire
Feds: Leader Of Ring That Flooded South Jersey, Philly 'Burbs With Fentanyl, Meth Gets 18 Years
A drug kingpin who headed a network that slung fentanyl and meth in South Jersey and the suburbs of Philadelphia while he hid from his pursuers was sentenced Thursday to a plea-bargained 18 years in federal prison. Glenn Long, 29, of Philadelphia, must serve just about all of the time he received in U.S. District Court in Camden on Jan. 4 because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Long – known on the street as “Bless” and “Max” – ran the operation as a fugitive for three years while under a federal indictment for major drug trafficking out of Philadelphia. A second drug conspi…
Police & Fire
Mail-order
Meth
: Bergen Man Charged After Quarter-Pound Arrives At Local Post Office
A Bergenfield man who was being investigated for slinging meth in Bergen County was arrested when he had a quarter-pound of the drug shipped via U.S. mail, authorities said. Taha Aziz, a 34-year-old accountant by trade, was seized by local Narcotic Task Force detectives and members of the United States Postal Inspection Service when he tried to collect the shipment from California at the Bergenfield Post Office on Dec. 20, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Aziz, an NJIT and Bergen Community College graduate whose online profile says he’d previously held several accounting position…
Police & Fire
SWAT Raid Turns Up Heroin, Meth, Ammo; 4 Arrested In Ocean County: Prosecutor
The raid of an Ocean County home turned up heroin, methamphetamine and ammunition, leading to the arrest of four people, authorities said. This investigation identified a residence in Berkeley Township as being utilized by Anthony Isola, 49, of Bayville, to store and sell drugs, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Based upon reliable information received, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and Berkeley Township Police Department initiated surveillance on the subject residence in Bayville on Tuesday, Oct. 24. That's when…
Police & Fire
Englewood Burglar Who Raided Homeowner's Fridge, Changed Clothes Ends Up With Jail Food: Police
Chances are good an intruder who made himself comfortable while burglarizing an Englewood home – raiding the refrigerator and changing his clothes – isn’t finding the accommodations at the Bergen County Jail as cushy. Carlos Liriano, 36, of the Bronx snatched $1,000 or so in cash and $14,000 worth of jewelry from the Old Quarry Road home just off Route 4 sometime between lunch and dinner on Friday, Oct. 13, Englewood Detective Lt. Fred Pulice said. Liriano "spent a significant amount of time" in the home, the lieutenant said. Then he got cocky. Detectives who diligently worked the case id…
Police & Fire
Mail-Order Meth? Accused Dealer, 60, Busted In North Arlington
A 60-year-old accused meth dealer was arrested during a raid of his North Arlington apartment by local police, county prosecutor’s detectives and U.S. postal inspectors. Jorge A. Perez had 3½ ounces of methamphetamine, scales and packaging material, leading to a charge of possession with the intent to distribute drugs, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Perez, who the prosecutor said is married and unemployed, was sent to the Bergen County Jail following the Oct. 6 raid at his Devon Street residence. He remained held for two days before a judge ordered him released pending further …
Police & Fire
Feds Help Dismantle Meth, Fentanyl Ring In North Jersey: Cops
An investigation by multiple North Jersey police departments and the Department of Homeland Security led to the arrest of three men for running a meth and fentanyl ring on Wednesday, Sept. 20, authorities said. Nilo Ibarra, a 38-year-old Jersey City resident, Ramon Lopez Arias, a 32-year-old West New York resident and Alexander Sanchez-Castillo, a 37-year-old North Bergen resident were arrested following an operation conducted by the Secaucus Police Department, the Jersey City Police Department Street Crimes Unit and the North Bergen Police Department, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Mill…
News
Dealer Admits Role In Major Ring That Moved Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ From NYC
One of three Manhattan men accused of flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke admitted his role in the organization, authorities said. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. And that wasn't all. Authorities discovered the operation during what began as an investigation into the Hudson County crew, which flooded the str…
News
Plea
Deal
: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ
UPDATE: A plea deal is sending a Philadelphia drug dealer who slung meth in New Jersey to federal prison for 10 years without parole, authorities said. Nasir White, 30, took the deal, pleading guilty to drug conspiracy, rather than risk the consequences of being convicted at a trial. He must serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. A fellow dealer, Shawn McGuriman, took the same deal and was sentenced in August 2021 to a decade behind bars, as well, authorities said. White and McGuriman had a half-pound of meth that they'd agreed to sell to anot…
Police & Fire
4 Charged In Major Meth, Cocaine Bust At Warren County Home: Prosecutor
Four suspects were charged after a month-long investigation led to the discovery of meth, cocaine, and other drugs in Warren County, authorities said. Shawn Hopper, 50, and Aysha Aguilu, 32, were charged with second-degree possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, distributing methamphetamine, and other drug offenses, Warren County Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer said in a Monday release with local officials. Jeffrey Denny, 36, of Clinton, and Erica Butters, 46, of Morristown were also charged with unlawful drug possession, while Denny was charged with hindering. An investigat…
News
Feds: Men From Philly, South Jersey Admit Roles In Major Meth, Fentanyl Trafficking Network
UPDATE: A man from Philadelphia and another from South Jersey admitted their roles in a major drug trafficking ring that dealt meth and fentanyl, federal authorities said. Kevin Salmon, 25, had 5½ pounds of meth and two guns in his home when it was raided by authorities, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Salmon had served as a courier for a major drug-trafficking network that "distributed large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl," the U.S. attorney said. A second defendant, John Munson, 47, of Deptford, admitted selling meth as part of the operation, he said. …
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