Federal and local law enforcement authorities arrested six people today for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin in Newark, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
According to authorities, Tyrone Brown, 34, Lamarr Burwell, 22, and Miles McCloud, 37, all of Newark, and Martin Pettiford, 23, of Irvington, are each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and one or more counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin. Tyrone Brown is also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a fentanyl analogue. Omar Wyche, 29, of Newark, and Keyeen Scott, 37, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were each charged with one or more counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Five of the defendants are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court today; Keyeen Scott is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kaymani D. West in Florence, South Carolina.
“The activities described in the criminal complaints unsealed today describe an active marketplace where heroin and crack cocaine are sold openly on the streets of Newark and surrounding areas,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said. “The wiretaps and surveillance provide a glimpse into the violent and dangerous world these defendants have created in one neighborhood. Our office, working together with our federal and local law enforcement partners, is focusing on ridding neighborhoods of just this type of activity, one gang at a time. Today’s arrests signal an important new beginning in our fight to retake our streets from dangerous gangs and drug dealers.”
“Gangs are the mechanism by which drugs are transmitted to the ‘bad seeds’ in our cities, and are at the root of the violent crime problem,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher said. “The FBI Newark Field Office is committed to making Newark, and its surrounding communities, a safe place to be. The most effective way to combat this epidemic of violence is through cooperation; the efforts of all law enforcement agencies with the support and understanding of the citizens whom we protect and serve.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
The defendants are allegedly members of a drug trafficking organization that dealt heroin in and around Newark, specifically the area of Hayes Street and 14th Avenue near the New Community Corp. community development (NCC). The organization also supplied drugs to customers and other distributors elsewhere.
The organization is composed of members of the Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang. The investigation revealed that in addition to selling narcotics in and around NCC – primarily in a courtyard area they refer to as “the desert” – the members of the drug trafficking organization alerted each other to the presence of police, rival gang members or drug dealers within NCC; pooled narcotics; shared narcotics proceeds and customers; and raised bail money for each other following an arrest.
Members of the organization have also engaged in violence and been the subject of violence in connection with their narcotics trafficking activities.
An investigation led by the FBI used physical and video surveillance, confidential informants, cooperating witnesses, dozens of controlled narcotics purchases, record checks, narcotics seizures, including of heroin, and multiple telephone wiretaps to uncover the operations of the drug trafficking organization.
The count of drug trafficking conspiracy carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and a $5 million fine. The drug possession counts carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.