"Operation Midway" and "Operation Borderline" focused on gang-led narcotics trafficking in East Orange and Newark.
EAST ORANGE — Essex County authorities arrested at least 30 suspects and raided numerous drug distribution centers over the past three days, dismantling narcotics syndicates accused of fueling the illicit drug trade in Newark and East Orange, investigators said.
The two-and-a half month investigation spurred two separate police initiatives — "Operation Midway" and "Operation Borderline" — aimed at disrupting a Bloods and Crips-run drug syndicate in East Orange, and various organizations who were allegedly trafficking drugs in Newark’s West Ward, authorities said.
The investigation was spearheaded by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the East Orange Police Department. A press conference to identify all the suspects and discuss specifics of the investigation will be held at the East Orange Police Department’s headquarters Friday at noon.
Newark Police, New Jersey State Police and the Essex County Sherriff’s Department were also involved in both operations. The multi-agency probe was sparked by several residents who reported increased drug dealing and violence near their homes.
"This has been a cooperative undertaking on the part of all these agencies," said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino. "This shows crime has no border, and neither does law enforcement."
Laurino said the investigation is ongoing, and he expects further arrests.
"Operation Midway" — which began Tuesday — focused on allied sets of the Bloods and Crips street gangs who allegedly controlled a narcotics operation along the William Street corridor in East Orange between North Arlington and North Munn Avenues, said Sgt. Andrew Dielmo, an East Orange Police spokesman. The operation led to the arrest of 23 suspects, said Dielmo, including 17 people known to have ties to the "Double ii"set of the Bloods gang and the "Hoover 52" set of the Crips.
Police executed three search warrants in East Orange during that operation, and seized a cache of drugs and guns.
"Our residents have a right to go to the stores, to have their children play, without worrying about getting caught up in gang and drug violence," said East Orange Police Director Jose Cordero.
Yesterday, "Operation Borderline" targeted five sets of the Bloods street gang accused of running drugs along the East Orange-Newark border, Dielmo said.
Investigators raided several stash houses within three miles of each other in the Valisburg section of Newark sometime after 5 p.m. last night, confiscating unknown quantities of drugs and weapons from each location, said Laurino.
The take down comes on the heels of Newark’s bloodiest summer since 1990. Thirty-five people were killed in the state’s largest city between June 1 and Aug. 31 this year, according to Prosecutor’s Office statistics, and drugs were the motive behind a majority of those slayings.
While officials would not say whether or not this week’s police action was in response to the summer bloodshed, Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose did say "operations like this are always aimed toward decreasing violence"