NJ Man Sold Cocaine From Somerset Co. Hotel: Prosecutor

FRANKLIN, NJ - A two-month long investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office uncovered a drug sale ring out of a local hotel on Cedar Grove Lane in Somerset, authorities said.

Anthony L. Banks, age 35, of Twain Road, North Brunswick, was charged with maintaining a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) production facility, possession with the intent to distribute CDS (cocaine), and three counts of possession of CDS, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said in a joint statement with Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor and Franklin Township Police Department Public Safety Director Quovella M. Maeweather.

The charges stem from Banks’ Monday arrest at the hotel, which was not named by police in a news release. With a Superior Court-ordered search warrant, an inspection of Banks’ hotel room found suspected cocaine (over ½ ounce), suspected heroin (under ½ ounce), along with a quantity of controlled prescription pills and fentanyl pills.

“The investigation revealed that defendant Banks was utilizing the hotel room to store, package and distribute the illegal narcotics,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Banks was charged and processed at the Franklin Township Police Department and later lodged at the Somerset County Jail pending a court date.

Anyone with information relating to this incident is urged to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force at (908) 231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-5533 or via the anonymous STOPit app.