Building condemned for code violations was allegedly home to "a 24-hour illegal drug bazaar," where heroin was sold during all hours of the day and night by dealers who paid residents to leave their doors unlocked to provide them with quick escape routes if the police raided the building.
NEWARK--Tenants complained the tenement building on Johnson Avenue in Newark, condemned last week by the city for major code violations, was crawling with rats and bedbugs.
Federal prosecutors said it was also home to what they called "a 24-hour illegal drug bazaar," where millions of dollars worth of heroin was sold during all hours of the day and night by dealers who paid residents to leave their doors unlocked to provide them with quick escape routes if the police raided the building.
Authorities on Thursday charged 15 people in the sophisticated operation, which U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman called one of the largest and most successful heroin distribution organizations in Newark, operating just down the block from the athletic fields of Malcolm X. Shabazz High School and the playground and basketball courts of Terrell James Park.
"Law abiding citizens shouldn't have to worry about drug dealing where children are trying to learn and play," Fishman said.
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Among those charged was Almalik Anderson, 36, described as the ringleader of the operation, who allegedly monitored the operation from a townhouse across the street, authorities said.
Nine people were arrested and six remain at large.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal district court in Newark, the group operated out of an apartment building at 25 Johnson Ave. taking advantage of the building's location on a dead-end street that made it difficult for for law enforcement to conduct surveillance despite the constant streams of buyers entering the building. Lookouts were paid by the gang to alert the ring to any police activity coming down the street.
Some residents, prosecutors alleged, were paid $25 a day to keep their apartments unlocked as a secret escape route if the police showed up. According to the complaint, Newark police in January spotted a drug deal going on in front of the building and chased the suspect. They said he dropped 40 packets of heroin and ran into an unlocked apartment on the fourth floor, before slamming the door shut. By the time the police broke down the door, the suspect had fled out the window of the apartment and down a fire escape, leaving behind a loaded .9mm handgun that an older woman living in the apartment tried to hide, prosecutors said.
In April, the FBI installed two hidden cameras in lighting and exit fixtures in a hallway of the building, capturing dozens of drug transactions. After six days, the transmission failed and agents found wires were sticking out of the fixtures where the cameras had been ripped out.
The heroin--sold in glassine packets under brand names like "Morning Rush," "The Virus," and "RIP"--generated thousands in profits, which was funneled into legitimate business ventures, said authorities, including a Newark clothing store and the purchase of vehicles at auction for cash. The group sold one to two kilograms of heroin per week. Prosecutors said the drugs being sold was of a high quality and attracted a lot of customers.
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The dealers worked in carefully planned "shifts" to handle the constant flow of buyers. In one tapped cell phone conversation recorded earlier this month, Anderson's deputy--Quawee "Hatman" Jones--complained to one of his managers about some of the lower-level dealers selling drugs outside by the mailbox, which he referred to as "the porch," rather than inside the building's hallway.
"I'm tired of dealing with these little punk [expletive] that ain't about the action," he complained. "My [expletive] is off the porch. [Expletive] shouldn't even be on the porch, like for what?"
Jones warned that selling on the street outside would bring in the police, and they would all end up in jail.
In another recording, Anderson himself made the point clear, telling one buyer: "Yo, you gotta walk in the building, don't stop and talk. Police be watching."
In recent weeks, with the building ordered shut down by the city because of alleged housing code violations, prosecutors said the gang had been searching for a new place operate.
The FBI estimated that based upon the drugs quantities sold, the ring generated between $4 million and $7 million a year.
At an initial appearance Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark, Jones and Anderson were both ordered held without bail.
Anderson, charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, faces a minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life in prison if convicted. The others, charged with conspiracy to distributed heroin, face minimum sentences of 10 years and up to life in prison.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
