ATLANTIC CITY – A joint investigation conducted during the past year by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Atlantic City Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Atlantic City Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), culminated yesterday in criminal charges against 41 members of a significant illegal drug trafficking organization operating in the Atlantic City area, the arrests of 19 of those charged, and the seizure of large amounts of illegal drugs, money, motor vehicles, and handguns, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced today.
Early yesterday morning, Thursday, July 7, 2016, Detectives of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Atlantic City Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Attorney General Atlantic City Task Force, and the FBI—armed with State and Federal arrest warrants, and assisted by law enforcement officers of local, regional, State, and Federal agencies, including multiple tactical teams—arrested 19 individuals in Atlantic County. Law enforcement continues to pursue the arrests of the 22 others charged with crimes in this case.
Two of the individuals arrested yesterday, Diaab Siddiq, a.k.a. Marshall Davis, 47, of Green Street, Atlantic City, and Ameer Stephens 36, of Genista Avenue, Galloway Township, have been charged under New Jersey law as a leaders of a narcotics trafficking network.
Detectives, police officers, and agents simultaneously executed 19 search warrants for residences and commercial properties in various locations throughout the County in Atlantic City, Galloway Township, Egg Harbor Township, Hamilton Township, Hammonton, and Pleasantville, and executed warrants for the search and seizure of 11 motor vehicles.
These search warrants resulted in the seizure yesterday of 12,225 bags of heroin, approximately 8 ounces of raw, unpackaged heroin, 8 ounces of suspected fentanyl, and 1 kilogram of cocaine.
Police also seized drug packaging materials, drug paraphernalia, 3 handguns—one with an illegal magazine with the capacity to hold 25 rounds of ammunition—, firearm ammunition, $73,884.00 in U. S. currency, and 11 motor vehicles.
During the investigation phase of the operation—prior to yesterday’s raids—law enforcement seized an additional 8,660 wax-fold bags of heroin, approximately 6 ounces of cocaine and 4 ounces of raw, unpackaged heroin, over $80,000 in U. S. currency, and 3 more handguns, bringing the totals seized by law enforcement during the investigation and execution of arrest and search warrants to: over 20,000 bags of heroin, approximately 12 ounces of raw, unpackaged heroin 8 ounces of suspected fentanyl, and 1.25 kilograms of cocaine, 6 handguns, and over $155,000 in U. S. currency.
The estimated total street value of the narcotics seized during the investigation and during yesterday’s warrant execution is nearly a half million dollars ($500,000).
As a result of an investigation initiated by the Atlantic City Police Department, the State alleges that this drug trafficking organization has been distributing large quantities of heroin and cocaine in the Atlantic City area.
In addition to members of the five agencies who conducted this joint investigation, law enforcement agencies that assisted in yesterday’s operation included the municipal police departments of Brigantine, Buena Borough, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township, Hammonton, Linwood, Northfield, Longport, Pleasantville, Somers Point, and Ventnor, the Atlantic County Sherriff’s Department, the Atlantic County Corrections Department, the Cape May, Cumberland, and Ocean County Prosecutor’s Offices, New Jersey State Parole, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and tactical and SWAT teams of the Atlantic City Police Department, Atlantic County Regional SWAT, NJSP TEAMS Unit, FBI Tactical Team, and the Cape May County Tactical Entry Team.
All of the arrests, executed in various locations in the County, were made without incident.
Prosecutor Jim McClain said, “This enforcement action is important also in continuing the series of joint municipal, County, State, and Federal investigations in recent years which have dismantled other criminal organizations in and around Atlantic City, preventing this narcotics organization from filling the void left by the arrests and prosecutions of members of those organizations.” Prosecutor McClain emphasized that “all levels of law enforcement in the Atlantic City Area remain committed to working together to effectively and efficiently address the heroin epidemic in New Jersey, as well as other types of criminal activity.”
What follows below is a list of all 41 charged defendants, their ages, genders, and home addresses. The names of the 19 persons who were arrested yesterday and are now in custody are identified with a checkmark before the name, and listed in bold and underlined font: Name of Defendant. The arrests of the remaining 22 defendants by law enforcement are pending.
A conviction for a 1st degree crime carries a potential penalty of 10-20 years of incarceration in New Jersey State prison. The potential penalty for a 2nd degree conviction is 5-10 years of imprisonment.
Diaab Siddiq and Ameer Stephens, charged under New Jersey law as leaders of a narcotics trafficking network, face a possible sentence of life in prison without becoming eligible for parole until after having served 25 years in prison.
