Two Newark men have admitted their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy based in Newark, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Honig, Rahim Jackson pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin.
Arthur Hardy pleaded guilty on December 9 to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession of heroin.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
The G-Shine set of the Bloods street gang operates at the Broadway Townhomes in Newark, in a residential neighborhood a short distance from two elementary schools and a high school.
The organization’s leaders obtained their supply of narcotics, including heroin and fentanyl, from Jackson and Hardy, who delivered the narcotics either personally or through drug runners.
The investigation revealed that, on numerous occasions, large narcotics deliveries took place in or around the Rotunda Recreation and Wellness Center on Clifton Avenue, where Jackson was employed and where Hardy was the director.
These individuals also used the Rotunda Recreation and Wellness Center to stash narcotics and narcotics proceeds.
The Broadway Townhomes investigation was part of the Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI).
The Newark VCI was formed in August 2017 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the City of Newark’s Department of Public Safety for the sole purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Newark.
As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate and pool resources to prosecute violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.