Tinton Falls, Middletown and Other Residents Charged
By Stephen Appezzato
FREEHOLD – Seventeen people were arrested in connection with a widespread illegal narcotics distribution ring in Monmouth County, as law enforcement personnel seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and paraphernalia.
An eight-month investigation revealed drugs were being smuggled into Monmouth County from Somerset and Passaic counties, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
The operation, which was a joint effort among the Monmouth, Passaic and Somerset county sheriff’s offices, the state police and local police departments, culminated with the execution of search warrants at two Paterson properties last month, where law enforcement agents uncovered a “fully functional fentanyl mill.” At the time, 54-year-old Pedro Torres-Rivera and 54-year-old Manuel Dejesus-Polanco were caught wearing surgical masks and packaging drugs.
Two other search warrants were also executed at stash houses in Long Branch and Neptune Township, resulting in the seizure of 450 grams of fentanyl, 325 grams of cocaine, Xanax pills, six pounds of marijuana, kilogram and pill presses, cutting agents, ink pads and stamps, and about $27,000 in cash.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the fentanyl – with a potentially lethal dose of just two milligrams – was enough to kill approximately 225,000 people.
“A criminal enterprise that has been poisoning our neighborhoods for the better part of a decade has been thoroughly dismantled,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in a release.
“I cannot commend enough, all of the dedicated men and women whose inexhaustible tenacity and commitment to collaboration have made that possible,” he added.
Law enforcement agents also seized 22 types of “folds,” papers folded in specific ways to package individual doses of opioids. Three of these folds were linked to fatal overdoses in Monmouth County in recent months.
According to the prosecutor’s office, 48-year-old Yusef Kearny of North Plainfield and 47-year-old Gerson Villeda Fajardo of Paterson were responsible for funneling the drugs into Monmouth County. At the time of Kearney’s arrest in April in Asbury Park, he was in possession of 300 grams of cocaine.
Officials discovered Kearney supplied narcotics to 47-year-old Kaileem Davis, a Tinton Falls resident, and 37-year-old Tyking Pugh of Ocean Township, who supplied 44-year-old Sammie Boynton of Middletown. The drugs were then distributed across Monmouth County.
In addition to the 17 arrests, five individuals were criminally charged but have not yet been arrested. Locally, 33-year-old Jeffrey Wells and 45-year-old Rasheen Yarbough of Tinton Falls, 34-year-old Suzzette Depolmo of Atlantic Highlands, and 43-year-old Christopher Johnson and 44-year-old Ronald Remp of Keansburg remain at large. Another suspect was also pending arrest, but the prosecutor’s office later confirmed 45-year-old Kurtis Barnes of Atlantic City was apprehended this week.
Santiago said the arrests and seizures mark the end of a “herculean effort involving innumerable moving parts, all seamlessly coordinated.”
In the Two River area, the Atlantic Highlands, Holmdel, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Red Bank, and Tinton Falls police departments were commended, alongside the Asbury Park, Belmar, Eatontown, Howell, Keansburg, Keyport, Long Branch, Matawan, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Spring Lake, Union Beach, Wall Township and West Long Branch departments.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Emily Cartmell of the Narcotics and Criminal Enterprise Investigation Section. All defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a trial.
Other Police News
A Middletown jewelry repair shop owner was robbed at gunpoint June 21. Township police say around 2 p.m. that Friday, officers responded to Jewelry Repair and Design at 147 Cherry Tree Farm Road after an armed robbery was reported. The suspect, a white male with facial hair, approximately 5-foot-7 and in his late 20s to early 30s, was outside the store with the owner just before the robbery. When the owner re-entered the store, the suspect followed and displayed a handgun.
The Middletown Township Police are actively investigating the crime; members of the public who may have information on the robbery are encouraged to call Detective First Class Daniel Sullivan at 732-615-2120.
The article originally appeared in the June 27 – July 3, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
