STATE POLICE AND DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS ARREST THREE, SEIZE 15 POUNDS OF FENTANYL, AND DISMANTLE OPIOID MILL LINKED TO 76 OVERDOSES, INCLUDING 29 FATAL OVERDOSES

Newark, N.J. – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Colonel Patrick Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, today announced that a cooperative investigation by the State Police Opioid Enforcement Task Force and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has resulted in the arrest of three suspects, the seizure of approximately 15 pounds (nearly seven kilograms) of fentanyl, and the dismantling of an opioid mill operating in Newark, N.J.  The mill operators were distributing their narcotics in wax folds stamped with the same brand names that have been linked to 76 total suspected overdoses across New Jersey, including 29 fatal overdoses.

In November 2019, the New Jersey State Police Gangs and Organized Crime North Unit and the HSI Transitional Organized Crime and Gang Group (TOCGG) began investigating the criminal activities of several criminal organizations operating in and around Newark.

As part of the investigation, on Sunday, February 9, members of the State Police Gangs and Organized Crime North Unit, T.E.A.M.S, K-9, Crime Scene North, and Hazmat Units, along with HSI TOCGG executed a search warrant at a residence on Hobson Street in Newark and seized the following:

• Seven kilograms of fentanyl, including a combination of pure fentanyl and fentanyl mixed with cutting agents
• Three handguns: two .45-caliber handguns and a .380-caliber handgun
• Two large capacity magazines: a 28-round .45-caliber drum and a 13-round .45-caliber high capacity magazine
• Thirteen .45-caliber flat nose cartridges

Additionally, detectives seized 59 different rubber stamps the mill operators used to “brand” the wax folds they used to package narcotics prior to street-level distribution.  Drug traffickers typically package heroin and/or fentanyl in a wax fold, which is considered one dose. They also market their “brand” of drug by ink-stamping the outside of the wax fold with a unique image, word or phrase such as “Passion,” “Thanos,” “Thor,” and “No Days Off,” which are examples of stamps recovered from this mill.

The counties most impacted by the overdoses attributed to the brands associated with this mill were Middlesex (14), Union (13), Ocean (10), Monmouth (9), Morris (7), Essex (6), and Bergen (5) Counties.

Whydia Durham, 46, of Union, N.J., Dereemus Botts, 34, of Irvington, N.J., and Nelson Johnson, 30, of Newark, N.J., were arrested and charged with the following:

• Maintaining a CDS facility
• Possession with intent to distribute
• Possession within 1000 feet of a school zone
• Destruction of evidence
• Distribution/possession of CDS paraphernalia
• Unlawful possession of a handgun (3 counts)
• Unlawful possession of a handgun during a CDS offense (3 counts)
• Unlawful possession of a high capacity magazine (2 counts)
• CDS processing equipment

“The poison that the criminals operating this mill pushed out across New Jersey is alleged to have claimed at least 29 lives,” said Attorney General Grewal. “By working with our federal partners at the Department of Homeland Security, we are bringing a new enforcement approach to beating back this epidemic. We are focusing our efforts on the deadliest mills in New Jersey to choke off the supply of these highly potent drugs at the source where they are mixed and packaged. These collaborative efforts will continue to save countless lives, as we also continue to focus on our innovative prevention and treatment efforts.”

“Twenty-nine people lost their lives linked to the brands associated with this mill, but the victims were not limited to its physical location.  Our analysis through the Drug Monitoring Initiative illustrates how quickly deadly narcotics processed in these mills spread across the state,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.  “Fentanyl is a killer that does not differentiate between the user, police officer, first responder, or child who accidentally comes into contact with it.  I commend the State Police detectives and our partners who have without question saved lives as a result of this outstanding investigation.”

“In the deadly opioid epidemic, nothing is more lethal than fentanyl, a drug that continues to find its way all across the nation, including our state,” said Brian Michael, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, Newark, “Fortunately, law enforcement partnerships like this, between the New Jersey State Police and HSI Newark, do incredible work in investigating and arresting the dangerous criminals who operate these drug mills and endanger public safety.”

The New Jersey State Police Opioid Enforcement Task Force (OETF) was created to address the supply side of the opioid epidemic in New Jersey. The concept behind the OETF is to attack the supply of illicit opioids, using advanced investigative methods, at the natural chokepoint of the supply chain. This chokepoint has been identified as the point at which heroin and fentanyl are packaged into individual doses (wax folds) for street level distribution.

The OETF is comprised of law enforcement officers from Homeland Security Investigations, Division of Criminal Justice, Bergen County Prosecutors Office, Newark Police Department, Irvington Police Department, Nutley Police Department, Cliffside Park Police Department, and Paterson Police Department.

This case will be prosecuted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.

Charges are mere accusations, and the suspects are innocent until proven guilty.