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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 streets of Union City, North Bergen, West New York, Bayonne and various areas in Bergen, Essex and Union counties with meth, fentanyl and cocaine, some of it in combination.
Intercepting a series of phone calls, investigators targeted the Manhattan trio -- Moreno, known as “Samuel,” Antonio Hidalgo, also known as “Cacona,” and Jose Miguel "Pelu" Abreu – as their major supplies.
Investigators watched the operations working in concert with one another, often following their vehicles from one side of the Hudson River to the other. Moreno, they said, was the “primary contact” between the two.
Simultaneous raids followed on Jan. 29, 2021 at more than two dozen locations on each side of the river, including the homes of all three Manhattan men and a Washington Heights basement.
Authorities recovered:
- nearly 12 pounds of a combo of methamphetamine and fentanyl;
- nearly four pounds of crystal meth;
- nearly five pounds of meth and fentanyl pills;
- nearly three pounds of cocaine;
- more than a pound and a half of fentanyl in brick form;
- $11,180 in drug cash;
- two pill presses, four scales.
The seized drugs, they said, had an estimated street value of $700,000.
Hidalgo is in federal custody and Abreu remains a fugitive.
Moreno, rather than risk the consequences of a trial, took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to various drug charges during a videoconference with a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday, Dec. 20, Sellinger said.
U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi scheduled sentencing for May 8, 2023.
The date could change depending on Moreno’s level of cooperation with the investigation.
Sellinger credited members of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) in both New York and Newark, the New York City Airport Border Enforcement Security Task Force, the NYPD, and investigators from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Securing the plea was Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of Sellinger’s National Security Unit in Newark.
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