Eight people were charged today in connection with their roles in a drug trafficking organization that obtained heroin from Essex County and supplied it to Central Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
The defendants (see chart) were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
Five of the eight defendants were arrested this morning as part of a coordinated takedown by federal, state and local law enforcement authorities and were scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court.
According to the complaint:
The joint investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force relied upon intercepted communications, physical surveillance, controlled heroin purchases, information from confidential sources and other investigative techniques. Law enforcement officers uncovered the operational structure and inner workings of the drug trafficking organization, which enriched a local street gang, the “Bounty Hunter Bloods.”
From October 2014 through March 2015, the defendants took part in a scheme to distribute heroin in an area known as “Parkside,” which straddles Franklin Township in Somerset County and New Brunswick in Middlesex County.
Members of the drug trafficking organization transported the “raw,” or unpackaged, form of heroin from Essex County to Middlesex and Somerset counties and used stash houses and other temporary locations to package, store and distribute heroin. They attempted to avoid detection by using code to disguise the nature of their discussions and used prepaid cellular phones for short periods of time.
Webb supplied heroin to Newsom, Miller, and Styles, all of whom lived in and around the Parkside neighborhood. He typically obtained the raw heroin suppliers, including Williams and Peralta. In some cases, Webb drove from Newark to Parkside to deliver the heroin; in other cases, Newsom, Miller, and others traveled to Newark to pick up the drugs from Webb.
The conspiracy count with which each of the defendants is charged carries a minimum potential penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years in prison, and a $5 million fine.