Seventeen people have been arrested — and six more who police are searching for have been charged — in the takedown of an alleged illicit drug manufacturing and distributing ring that authorities say pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dangerous narcotics into New Jersey neighborhoods.
In announcing the takedown Monday, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said the widespread operation included a fully functioning fentanyl mill in Paterson and distribution channels that funneled drugs from Passaic and Somerset counties to destinations throughout Monmouth.
In addition to the arrests, he said, authorities also seized an amount of drugs that would have been lethal enough to kill a huge number of people, had it hit the streets.
“The arrests and seizures being announced today mark the end result of a herculean investigative effort involving innumerable moving parts, all seamlessly coordinated with the help of more than two dozen other law enforcement agencies,” Santiago said in a statement.
“A criminal enterprise that has been poisoning our neighborhoods for the better part of a decade has been thoroughly dismantled, and I cannot commend enough, all of the dedicated men and women whose inexhaustible tenacity and commitment to collaboration have made that possible.”
Among those arrested were 54-year-old Pedro Torres-Rivera and 54-year-old Manuel Dejesus-Polanco, both of Paterson, who authorities said they found with surgical masks on, in the midst of actively packaging drugs when they were apprehended. Both are charged with a host of drug-related crimes, including first degree maintaining a controlled dangerous substance production facility, officials said.
As part of the scheme, an alleged ringleader — 48-year-old Yusef A. Kearney of North Plainfield — would supply drugs to 47-year-old Kaileem S. Davis of Tinton Falls and 37-year-old Tyking Pugh of Ocean Township, prosecutors said. Pugh was accused of supplying narcotics to 44-year-old Sammie Boynton of Middletown, who would allegedly distribute them to more sellers and buyers from there.
Another alleged ringleader — 47-year-old Gerson G. Villeda Fajardo of Paterson — helped move drugs to Monmouth County, where others would help distribute them through towns and neighborhoods, authorities alleged.
All together, investigators seized about 450 grams of fentanyl, approximately 325 grams of cocaine, prescription Xanax pills, 6 pounds of marijuana, drug packaging equipment, and approximately $27,350 in cash.
Authorities also said they found 22 types of folds meant for packaging individual doses of drugs. Three of them have been linked to fatal overdoses in Monmouth County during recent months, they said.
In addition to members of the prosecutor’s office, the takedown included investigators from the New Jersey State Police, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, and Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officers were also involved from the municipal police departments in Asbury Park, Atlantic Highlands, Belmar, Eatontown, Holmdel, Howell, Keansburg, Keyport, Long Branch, Matawan, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Spring Lake, Tinton Falls, Union Beach, Wall Township, and West Long Branch.
Attorney information for those charged was not immediately available.
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Deion Johnson may be reached at djohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Instagram at @DeionRJohnson or X @DeionRJohhnson.
