Grand Jury Indicts Drug Traffickers Caught With 3 Kilos of Heroin

ATLANTIC CITY – An Atlantic County grand jury has indicted three New York City men accused of trying to funnel 3 kilos of heroin onto the boardwalk last summer, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

“The heroin seized in this case could have been cut and packaged to yield 60,000 doses – enough doses for every person living in Atlantic City and neighboring Pleasantville,” said Elie Honig, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “The Atlantic City Task Force has been highly effective in leveraging law enforcement resources, in cooperation with its federal partners, to reduce drug dealing and gun violence in and around Atlantic City.”

The men accused of heroin trafficking include Steven Rodriguez, 23, Queens, Edwin Gomez, 32, Brooklyn, and Steven Torres, 25, Brooklyn.

All three were indicted on charges of first-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin, second-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute within 500 feet of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, and third-degree possession of heroin, Grewal said.

The first-degree charge carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. The second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while the third-degree charge carries a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $75,000, he said.

“Heroin deaths have more than doubled over the past five years as the opioid epidemic has tightened its grip on New Jersey, and alleged suppliers like these defendants who bring large quantities of heroin into our state are fueling this deadly crisis,” Grewal said.

The indictments were the result of an investigation by members of the Atlantic City Task Force and federal agents of ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

The three men were arrested in June 2017 in Atlantic City by members of the Atlantic City Task Force – led by the Little Egg Harbor Township police department – and federal agents of HSI. The agencies determined that the three defendants were planning to deliver a large amount of heroin to a location on the beach block of Saint James Place.

Torres and Gomez were arrested after they arrived in a parking lot on Saint James Place at about 1 p.m. on June 15, 2017. Authorities seized 3 kilograms of heroin, wrapped in plastic bags, from a van they were operating. Rodriguez was arrested nearby in an SUV. He drove to the area with Gomez and took part in the delivery of the heroin, Grewal said.

“If this massive seizure prevented just one death or overdose or prevented just one person from falling victim to addiction, then it was a success,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan, Acting Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

The Atlantic City Task Force includes the Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, State Parole Board, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic City Police Department, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department and Brigantine Police Department.

“This case demonstrates that those involved in narcotics distribution will be pursued to the full extent of the law,” said Brian Michael, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Newark. “This interagency effort brought down an organization that would have brought large amounts of heroin into our state, one which is already ravaged by the opioid epidemic.”

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