New Jersey Announces Drug/Gang Arrest

TRENTON, New Jersey — State law enforcement authorities on 6/5/22012 announced a takedown of a major heroin distribution network in Camden with ties to two notoriously violent street gangs.

State Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, who has made disrupting gang activity a priority, said a multi-agency task force fanned out across the city in search of 41 suspects.

As of 11 a.m., 25 people had been arrested and 16 were still being sought, the Attorney General’s Office said in a news release. A spokesman for the office did not return a message seeking updated numbers as of 4:30 p.m.

"The culture of violence in our cities is rooted in a culture of drug dealing," Chiesa said in the release. "With investigations such as this one, we are taking aim at the primary threat to the safety and quality of life of Camden residents."

The arrests included the alleged leader of the network, Noel Gonzalez, 43, of Camden, a reputed member of the Ñetas street gang, who is charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network, the office said. In addition to Gonzalez, the leaders of the network include other members of the Ñetas and Latin Kings street gangs, the office said.

Gonzalez and 27 other alleged members of his organization, including his top deputies, are charged with racketeering, the office said. The network was allegedly dealing up to tens of thousands of dollars in heroin every week.

Nine members of the network have been charged in the past with violent crimes or weapons offenses, and two of those charged in the sweep were among the city’s "Top 10" list of violent offenders, the office said in the release.

Search warrants executed during the arrests turned up three-quarters of a kilo of heroin, about $52,000 in cash, about $20,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency and a .40-caliber handgun, the office said. The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office is also pursuing links between the network and several unsolved homicides in the city, the office said.

"We expect that information obtained from this investigation will lead to additional arrests for other serious crimes," County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said in the release.

The charges stem from Operation Billboard, a nine-month investigation led by the state Division of Criminal Justice, with assistance from the Camden City Police Department, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.



source: Star-Ledger