Camden Police Arrest Alleged PCP Dealer

Detectives from the Camden County Metro Division arrested a 28-year-old Camden resident they say was armed and dealing PCP in the Gateway neighborhood of the city.

Around 9:40 p.m. Friday, Detectives Paul Sandrock and Michael Ross allegedly witnessed a hand-to-hand drug transaction that occurred in a vehicle parked near 8th and Line streets, according to police.

Fernando Perez, 28, of Camden, was allegedly found to be in possession of a loaded .38 revolver, several jars of what police believed to be PCP, and $270 in cash. 

He was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, certain persons not to have weapons; possession of a controlled, dangerous substance (CDS); possession with intent to distribute; and possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a park.

Perez was remanded to the Camden County correctional facility on $720,000 cash-or-bond bail. He was also served with a Drug Offender Restraining Order (DORO) prohibiting him from returning to the area in which he was arrested.

PCP, or "wet," is a hallucinogenic drug that has been blamed for a variety of violent, criminal behaviors, including the violent stabbing of two children in the city. 

In September, another Camden man was sentenced to a decade in state prison for a first-degree charge of possession of PCP with intent to distribute.