Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that three brothers pleaded guilty today to first-degree racketeering for leading a violent drug ring in Camden that had ties to Mexican drug cartels and was dealing millions of dollars a year in heroin and cocaine.
The ring was dismantled by the Division of Criminal Justice and its partners in “Operation North Pole” in November 2013.
Omar Urbina Sr., 42, of Philadelphia, Pa., Edwin Urbina, 39, of Camden, and Edward Urbina, 36, of Camden, each pleaded guilty today to first-degree racketeering before Superior Court Judge John T. Kelly in Camden.
Under their plea agreements, the state will recommend that Omar be sentenced to 14 years in state prison, including nearly 12 years of parole ineligibility, and that each of his two brothers be sentenced to 10 years in state prison, including 8 ½ years of parole ineligibility.
Deputy Attorneys General Rachael Weeks and Lisa Rastelli took the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The three men are scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.
The three brothers were charged in a Sept. 12, 2014 indictment stemming from “Operation North Pole.” The three men controlled open-air drug markets at and around the intersections of 4th and York Streets and 3rd and Erie Streets in North Camden, selling hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in heroin and cocaine.
The Urbinas and their associates controlled those drug markets for 20 years, relying on violence to protect their turf from interlopers.
The indictment charged 42 defendants, including four alleged suppliers for the ring, one of whom allegedly used his ties to Mexican drug cartels to act as the ring’s primary supplier of heroin and cocaine.
The investigation revealed that the enterprise was large, highly structured and well-organized. The Urbinas not only distributed heroin and cocaine using their own packaging, but also allowed others to “rent” blocks or corners to distribute their own drugs in a different type of packaging. In return for cash payments, the Urbinas provided protection to the “tenants.” Thirty-six defendants have pleaded guilty, including 14 who pleaded before the indictment.
Numerous agencies, including the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, helped execute arrest and search warrants during the takedown of the ring in November 2013, when most of the defendants were arrested.