Man Tried To Sell Kilo Of Heroin Outside South Jersey Wawa: Feds

TUCKERTON, NJ - A Connecticut man was convicted by a federal jury last week of possessing with intent to distribute around one kilogram of heroin outside a South Jersey Wawa, federal officials said.

The conviction stems from a November 2018 tip to federal investigators that Payano-Perez was preparing to sell a large amount of heroin in the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store in Tuckerton, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Luis Payano-Perez, 38, had arranged for the quantity of the heroin to be sold, as well as the date, time and location of the planned transaction, a confidential informant told U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Payano-Perez met with two confidential government informants on Nov. 8, 2018 at the Tuckerton store parking lot to sell them approximately one kilogram of heroin, Sellinger said. At the scene, law enforcement officers cornered the perimeter of the Wawa parking lot and arrested Payano-Perez.

A search of Payano-Perez’s vehicle uncovered a bag containing nearly one kilogram of heroin, federal authorities said.

The heroin trafficking charge carries a mandatory penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison and up to a $5 million fine, Sellinger said.