Tag:

Drug Trafficking

NJ-Based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds NJ-Based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds
Nj-based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds TD Bank has agreed to pay about $3 billion in historic penalties after its relaxed policies allowed criminals to launder their money, authorities said. The Canadian bank with U.S. headquarters in Cherry Hill pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to not maintain an anti-money laundering program that complies with the Bank Secrecy Act, filing inaccurate currency transaction reports, and laundering money, the Justice Department said in a news release on Thursday, Oct. 10. TD Bank will pay more than $1.8 billion to resolve the DOJ's investigation and $1.3 billion in a penalty f…
NJ Mailman Found Guilty Of Taking Bribes To Transport Drugs: Feds NJ Mailman Found Guilty Of Taking Bribes To Transport Drugs: Feds
NJ Mailman Found Guilty Of Taking Bribes To Transport Drugs: Feds A 49-year-old former mailman and Union resident was convicted in federal court on Thursday, Aug. 15 of taking bribes to deliver drugs through the mail, authorities said.  For five years, from 2015 to 2010, Emerson Pavilus received cash payments in exchange for helping individuals intercept packages containing illegal narcotics and other illicit materials while working as a mailman in Flanders, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Pavilus provided his conspirators with addresses for vacant houses along his mail route to which they could ship illegal packages, Sellinger said. P…
$1.1M In Drugs, 5 Firearms, $65K Seized From NJ Man, Prosecutor Says $1.1M In Drugs, 5 Firearms, $65K Seized From NJ Man, Prosecutor Says
$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 AGAIN: Big Purple Bud Bus Guy, Woman Arrested After Series Of Raids Across NJ, NY, Cops Say
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 Mass Amounts Of Cocaine, $17K Seized From Mom-Son Duo In Bloomfield, Newark SWAT Raids: Cops
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…
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK 23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK Federal agents at JFK Airport seized a 23-year-old Taiwanese national who the Justice Department said owned and operated a dark web drug bazaar that produced well over $100 million in sales. The “Incognito Market” created by Rui-Siang Lin enabled its users to anonymously buy and sell drugs around the globe for nearly 3½ years, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and other federal officials announced on Monday, May 20. Lin -- also known as Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah, and faro – mastermineded a clandestine e-commerce network where buyers could browse thousands of listings for heroin, LSD, …
MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen
Mail-order Meth: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen A New Jersey man who shipped more than 100 pounds of crystal meth for sale cross-country through the U.S. mail was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison as part of a plea deal. Michael Venditti, 39, of Camden, was arrested during a controlled delivery of a package in September 2021. It had been intercepted on its way from Calexico, a Southern California town at the Mexican border, federal authorities said. Inspectors got a warrant to open the package after a drug-detection dog reacted to its arrival at a South Jersey postal facility, they said. Inspectors swapped some of the m…
BUSTED: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown BUSTED: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown
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…
NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds
NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds A flight attendant from New Jersey smuggled $2.5 million of an estimated $8 million in drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic through a scheme that capitalized on flight crews’ easy access through airports, authorities charged. Charlie Hernandez, 42, of West New York and three other accused mile-high drug mules used code words such as “lotions” – meaning drug cash – and “los tigres” (for their drug-dealing partners), an indictment alleges. Each got a cut for slipping the cash through unscreened TSA security lanes for international commercial airline employees at JFK Air…
Feds: Nine Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Fentanyl, Coke, More At Open-Air Drug Market Feds: Nine Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Fentanyl, Coke, More At Open-Air Drug Market
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. …
Speeding Route 80 Driver From Paterson Had 20 Pounds Of Cocaine, Nebraska State Troopers Say Speeding Route 80 Driver From Paterson Had 20 Pounds Of Cocaine, Nebraska State Troopers Say
Speeding Route 80 Driver From Paterson Had 20 Pounds Of Cocaine, Nebraska State Troopers Say A Paterson driver who was stopped for speeding on Route 80 in Nebraska was caught with 20 pounds of cocaine, state troopers said. Pablo Suruy Hernandez, 40, had the coke stashed in various compartments of his BMW X5 when he was stopped in York County around noontime Saturday, March 23, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. Hernandez remained held Tuesday in the York County Jail, some 1,300 miles from Paterson. He's charged with both possession and possession with the intent to deliver the drugs.
Mexican Truckers Busted With $28 Million Of Marijuana At NJ Weigh Station: Prosecutor Mexican Truckers Busted With $28 Million Of Marijuana At NJ Weigh Station: Prosecutor
Mexican Truckers Busted With $28 Million Of Marijuana At NJ Weigh Station: Prosecutor Two men from Mexico were arrested on Tuesday, March 12, at a Warren County weigh station after being found with more than $28 million worth of marijuana, authorities said. The New Jersey State Police Mobile Safe Freight Unit was conducting an inspection of a commercial tractor trailer carrying oranges from California to Queens at the Greenwich Township Weigh Station, Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said. A visual inspection of the vehicle revealed pallets of oranges and 12 additional pallets of unlabeled cardboard boxes, Pfeiffer said. The unlabeled cardboard boxes were inconsistent…
Paroled NJ Drug Dealer Admits Trafficking Kilo Of Coke Armed With Trio Of Guns Paroled NJ Drug Dealer Admits Trafficking Kilo Of Coke Armed With Trio Of Guns
Paroled NJ Drug Dealer Admits Trafficking Kilo Of Coke Armed With Trio Of Guns 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: An ex-con from Newark who spent 13 years in state prison will be doing federal time after admitting that he trafficked a kilo of cocaine while packing three guns. Carlos Ovidio Gonzalez, 36, was paroled in March 2022 after serving time for drug dealing and illegal weapons possession convictions out of Morris County in 2009, records show. Gonzalez faces significantly more time now that he's pleaded guilty in federal court to having and conspiring to sell coke and fentanyl and illegally possessing guns and ammo, among other counts. Unlike the state of New Jersey, the federal prison s…
NJ Woman Convicted By Federal Jurors Of Having Cocaine, Meth Fed-Exed To Her Home NJ Woman Convicted By Federal Jurors Of Having Cocaine, Meth Fed-Exed To Her Home
NJ Woman Convicted By Federal Jurors Of Having Cocaine, Meth Fed-Exed To Her Home 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: An Essex County woman who took her chances with a federal jury rather than accept a plea deal from the government was convicted of having cocaine FedExed to her apartment. Authorities intercepted two parcels addressed to "John Brown" in Newark in March 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Mahogany Hawkins, 32, answered the door when an undercover officer posing as a FedEx driver delivered both of them, he said.Detectives knocked on the door again, identifying themselves as police this time, the U.S. attorney said.Hawkins said she was “getting dressed” and didn’t respon…
PA Drug Dealer Federally Indicted For Methamphetamine Sales: USDOJ PA Drug Dealer Federally Indicted For Methamphetamine Sales: USDOJ
PA Drug Dealer Federally Indicted For Methamphetamine Sales: Usdoj A federal grand jury indicted a Luzerne County man on drug trafficking charges this week, according to the US Attorney's Office.  Benjamin Woytas, 34, of Wilkes-Barre Township, is accused of distributing methamphetamine in Luzerne County in August 2023, said USA Gerard Karam in a release.  The maximum penalty for the charges is a 40-year prison term followed by supervised release and a fine, prosecutors said.  In addition to the FBI, the county Drug Task Force investigated the case.  Woytas was charged with drug possession in Hudson County, New Jersey, in 2020.&nb…
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
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 Central Jersey Drug Dealer Found In Atlantic City With Heroin, Cocaine: Police
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…
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel An accused drug dealer from Bloomfield provided the drugs that killed a user from Jersey City at a Lyndhurst motel, authorities charged. Alberto Delgado, 43, was accused of selling the fentanyl-laced crack that killed 54-year-old Luke Revell after he smoked it at the Winslow Motor Hotel just off eastbound Route 3. Delgado had more than a pound and a half of the drugs in a storage unit when detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office searched it, according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack. They also learned that Delgado had communicated with Revell by ce…
‘KITTY FLIPPERS’: $500,000 Worth Of Dangerous Ecstasy/Ketamine Mix Seized In Hudson ‘KITTY FLIPPERS’: $500,000 Worth Of Dangerous Ecstasy/Ketamine Mix Seized In Hudson
Kitty Flippers’: $500,000 Worth Of Dangerous Ecstasy/Ketamine Mix Seized In Hudson More than five kilos of a highly dangerous – and potentially fatal – drug mixture was seized and three men arrested in North Bergen in a joint operation of local and federal authorities. A handgun and $100,000 in drug cash were recovered along with the nearly 12 pounds of Ecstasy and Ketamine, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Members of Suarez’s Narcotics Task Force teamed up with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Newark and the federal Postal Inspection Service to make the case, the prosecutor said on Monday, Feb. 26. Arrested in the area of 91st Street and Bergenwood Aven…
SWAT Team Seizes Firearms, $21K In Drugs From NJ Trio In Major Bust: Cops SWAT Team Seizes Firearms, $21K In Drugs From NJ Trio In Major Bust: Cops
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…
Texas Trucker Busted With 300 Pounds Of Pot On Route 80: Prosecutor Texas Trucker Busted With 300 Pounds Of Pot On Route 80: Prosecutor
Texas Trucker Busted With 300 Pounds Of Pot On Route 80: Prosecutor A 42-year-old truck driver from Texas was arrested on Route 80 in Warren County on Tuesday, Jan. 23 after police discovered he was carrying 301 lbs. of marijuana, authorities said. State Police at the Knowlton Weigh Station discovered the massive haul after they obtained a search warrant following a commercial vehicle inspection, Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said.  The driver, Ian Munringayi, also provided a fake international driver's license, Pfeiffer said. The truck was traveling from Chicago to The Bronx, Pfeiffer said. Munringayi was charged with possession with intent…
Morris County Man Gets 10 Years For LSD By Mail: Prosecutors Morris County Man Gets 10 Years For LSD By Mail: Prosecutors
Morris County Man Gets 10 Years For LSD By Mail: Prosecutors Mail-order LSD landed a 21-year-old Kenvil man 10 years in state prison Friday, Jan. 5, authorities said. Eldridge Cruzado was sentenced in New Jersey Superior Court after pleading guilty in November to second degree distribution of LSD, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Chief Dean Adone of the Roxbury Township Police Department said. In May and June 2023, Cruzado used post offices in Morris County to send packages containing Lysergic acid diethylamide, a.ka. LSD, throughout the state and country authorities said. The United States…
Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts
Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts A fugitive who sold mail-order fentanyl on the dark web while being pursued by authorities in Canada for nearly two years was indicted on federal charges in New Jersey on Tuesday following a Homeland Security investigation. Michael C. Wozney, a 38-year-old Canadian national from Ontario, was a fugitive when he slung the potentially fatal drug in various dark net marketplaces, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. This included hundreds of transactions in the Empire Market, according to a 14-count indictment that Sellinger said was returned by a grand jury in Newark on Jan. …
Feds: Leader Of Ring That Flooded South Jersey, Philly 'Burbs With Fentanyl, Meth Gets 18 Years Feds: Leader Of Ring That Flooded South Jersey, Philly 'Burbs With Fentanyl, Meth Gets 18 Years
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…
MAIL-ORDER METH: Bergen Man Charged After Quarter-Pound Arrives At Local Post Office MAIL-ORDER METH: Bergen Man Charged After Quarter-Pound Arrives At Local Post Office
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…
$50K, Cocaine, 5 Pounds Of Pot Seized From Morris County Drug Dealer: Prosecutor $50K, Cocaine, 5 Pounds Of Pot Seized From Morris County Drug Dealer: Prosecutor
$50K, Cocaine, 5 Pounds Of Pot Seized From Morris County Drug Dealer: Prosecutor More than $51,000 in suspected drug proceeds, cocaine, and five pounds of marijuana was seized from a Morris County man, authorities said. Hanover's Anthony Dello-Russo, 27, is facing multiple drug-related offenses following a drug dealing investigation, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said. More than $51,000 in cash, half an ounce of cocaine and more than five pounds of marijuana were seized from Dello-Russo on Friday, Dec. 8, Carroll said alongside Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, Sheriff James M. Gannon, and Hanover Township Police Chief Michael Loock. Dello-Russo was…
NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea
NO Choice: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea UPDATE: There’s no trying to present a defense in court when the prosecutors have a video of you shooting someone, as well as the loaded gun you were carrying when they arrested you. So ex-con Antoine Hawkins, 31, of Newark, took a deal from the government, admitting in federal court in Newark this week that he shot two victims five days apart in the Brick City in August 2020. Hawkins also pleaded guilty to possessing a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds and 626 heroin folds for sale when they arrested him a month later, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger …
FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market
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…
NJ Raid Finds Fentanyl, Meth Hidden In 3-Year-Old Child's Toys: Prosecutor NJ Raid Finds Fentanyl, Meth Hidden In 3-Year-Old Child's Toys: Prosecutor
NJ Raid Finds Fentanyl, Meth Hidden In 3-Year-Old Child's Toys: Prosecutor The raid of a New Jersey home found explosives along with a large quantity of fentanyl, meth and more — hidden in a three-year-old child's toys, officials said. Craig S. Jones and Alicia F. Trembler are facing a slew of drug charges after New Jersey State Police uncovered the drugs and materials for packaging, marketing, and selling, during a raid of their Prospect Street home in Phillipsburg on Wednesday, Nov. 14, Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said. Here's what authorities found, Pfeiffer said: Findings from the drug raid. Warren County Prosecutor's Office While being proce…
10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor 10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor
10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor An unemployed Nutley man bought 10 vintage cars with the money he made selling cocaine, authorities charged. Authorities seized the “exotic” vehicles along with nearly $332,000 in cash that Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Omar Rios, 44, squirreled away in his apartment and a stash house. They also grabbed 1.7 pounds of cocaine, cutting agents, packaging material and a hydraulic press used to compress cocaine for packaging, the prosecutor said. Rios was seized during coordinated raids at his apartment in the Franklin Commons building on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, at a mixed-used …
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police A woman was arrested for kidnapping and two suspects remain at-large as Secaucus police continue their investigation into the sale of narcotics at motels in the town, authorities said.  Police found one member of an illicit drug distribution ring was kidnapped at knifepoint in Jersey City in June 2023, since he owed Erica Festino, another member of the drug ring, money, police said. The victim was bound and driven around Hudson County in the back of a U-Haul truck for hours and robbed of cash and personal items, police said. He was eventually released, police said.  Festino was ar…