Police arrested 16 people and seized thousands of bags of heroin in connection to a drug and gun trafficking operation in Atlantic County, New Jersey.
On Thursday, starting at 4 a.m., detectives with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Pleasantville Police, the FBI, NJ State Police, Galloway Township Police, U.S. Homeland Security, ATF, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office, and the Egg Harbor City, Mullica Township, Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township police departments executed five search warrants in the Egg Harbor City area following a 2-month investigation. The searches led to 16 arrests as well as the seizure of 21 firearms, ammunition, 10 ounces of cocaine and over 10,000 bags of heroin and fentanyl.
Investigators say it was all part of a drug and gun trafficking organization led by Kenneth Burrell, 39, of Egg Harbor City. Burrell is charged with being the leader of a narcotics trafficking network, conspiracy to distribute controlled dangerous substances and other related offenses.
“This investigation, and the arrests and seizures of contraband that resulted from it, displays the coordinated work done in Atlantic County by all levels of law enforcement to combat both the widespread drug epidemic and the gun violence problems that plague our country,” prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said.
Besides Burrell, the following people were arrested:
- Tyson Nieves 25, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Scott Dorn 18, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Leonard Allen 26, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Timothy Davis 19, Mullica, NJ
- Samuel Davis Jr., 22, Mullica, NJ
- Sarah A. Davis 24, Mullica, NJ
- Brian Foster 19, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Hiram Matos-Aviles 20, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Rodney Cline Jr. 34, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Tariek L. Mack 27, Galloway Twp., NJ
- Joshua Sims 18, Augusta, GA
- Umar Salahuddin 25, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Catoby Collier 40, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Dawayne Fleming 40, Egg Harbor City, NJ
- Isaiah Cooper 27, Pleasantville, NJ
