NEW JERSY: Authorities say they busted an 18-person heroin ring and seized three cars, a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, about 8,100 bags of heroin packaged for sale, four ounces of raw heroin and five ounces of cocaine.
In an investigation dubbed “Operation Family Tides,” police cracked down on the flow of heroin into the Bayshore area, according to a release from the office of acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
The investigation began last fall. Police determined members of the heroin ring sold nearly every day, working out of houses and apartments in Monmouth and Middlesex counties.
Investigators determined the members of the ring, most of whom are related, conspired to get uncut heroin, recruited people to package it for sale, then sold it at several locations, mostly in the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen. Police say members also sold powder and crack cocaine.
Police arrested 14 of the 18 people they accuse of being connected to the heroin ring, according to the release. They’re considering four fugitives from justice.
Police say the leaders were: Gregory “IA” Moore, 33; Terrence “T9” Brown, 37; Edward “Head” Gutridge II, 29, all of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen; and Halee Wing, 36, of East Orange. According to the release, their charges include: being leaders of a narcotics trafficking network, conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to distribute, distribution of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to distribute and possession of drugs.
Brown, Gutridge and Wing are each being held at Monmouth County Jail, Freehold on $1 million bail with no 10 percent option. Moore is wanted by police.
As a result of the seizure of a handgun with cocaine, the release said Gutridge and Jessica German, 21, of New York City are each charged with possession of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in the course of committing a drug offense. German’s bail was set at $75,000 with no 10 percent option.
Five other people acted as accomplices to distribute drugs throughout the Bayshore area, police say. According to the release, those five are: Isaiah “Zeke” Edwards, 25, of Old Bridge; Raymond “Hood” Jackson, 30, of Keyport; Bianca Edwards, 22, of Old Bridge; Joseph “Rule” Jackson Jr., 43, of Matawan and Krystal Mell, 26, of Keansburg. According to the release, their charges include: conspiracy to possess drugs with intent to distribute, distribution of drugs, possession of drugs with intent to distribute, and possession of drugs.
Those five people are each being held at Monmouth County Jail on $750,000 bail with no 10 percent option, the release said.
Investigators uncovered an apartment within a building on Harned Street in Perth Amboy where, police say, heroin was being processed from raw form and packaged for sale.
Police arrested Timothy Davidson, 38, of Old Bridge and Alina Alma, 24, of New York City, and filed additional charges against Gutridge and Wing. The four were charged with: maintaining or operating a drug production facility, possession of drugs with intent to distribute and possession of drugs.
Davidson and Alma are being held at Monmouth County Jail on $500,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
Police say people who were buying heroin from the ring were also arrested. According to the release, this included Ryan Murphy, 26, of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen; Jason Remp, 21, of Hazlet and James Mitchell, 57, of Keansburg. They were accused of conspiracy to possess drugs, and possession of drugs.
Besides Moore, three other people still are wanted by police, according to the release: Christine Owens, 44, of the West Keansburg section of Hazlet; Shannon Lecomte, 21, of Keansburg and Taheem Brown, 22, of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen. Those three are accused of conspiracy to possess drugs and possession of drugs.
