A Pleasantville man is
accused of leading a large-scale Atlantic City heroin-trafficking
operation, the scale of which was revealed Thursday as 22 people were
charged in it, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Khalif
Toombs, 29, is accused of operating multiple stash houses in the resort
and employing “numerous drug couriers” to make frequent runs to a
supplier in Paterson to transport heroin, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito
said in a statement. The effort was coordinated over phone calls, text
messages and social media.
Toombs,
a former Atlantic City High School basketball star, was arrested in
2017 on drug and weapons charges. He was arrested again last year after
Atlantic City police said they saw him leave a home on Mediterranean
Avenue and make several drug deals. Police said they stopped him and
found 60 bags of heroin and more than $1,000 in cash from the sales. A
search of the home led to an additional 3,310 bags of heroin with a
street value of more than $16,000, police said.
Toombs was charged with
possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent
to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a
public zone and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet
of a school zone.
According
to documents in the case and court statements, the charges handed down
Thursday are the result of a wiretap investigation.
Twenty-one
of the defendants are local to the area, hailing from places like
Atlantic City, Somers Point, Ventnor and Mays Landing. Each is charged
with one count of conspiracy to distribute or possession with intent to
distribute over one kilogram of heroin. Nineteen were arrested Thursday,
one was already in custody on previous state charges and two are still
at large.
The stamps, or brands, of
heroin allegedly distributed by the group — “AK-47,” “Apple,”
“Fortnite,” “Rolex,” “Frank Lucas,” “Bentley,” “Pandora” and “9½” — are
responsible for 48 deaths and 84 nonfatal overdoses over the past 2½
years, the Attorney’s Office said.
Another
man on the list, Quadir Stanley, 30, of Atlantic City, was arrested
earlier this month in a double shooting after a man and a woman walked
into AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, with gunshot
wounds in late May.
Stanley was arrested in October
after the car he was driving was pulled over and officers found 29
grams of cocaine, marijuana, OxyContin, drug paraphernalia and a handgun
magazine loaded with hollow-point ammunition, police said.
The
FBI, Atlantic City and Pleasantville police departments, Atlantic
County Sheriff’s Office and Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office
participated in the investigation.
“Together
with our federal, state and local partners, we have showed those that
wish to invade and flood our neighborhoods with deadly drugs that it
will not be tolerated,” said Atlantic City police Chief Henry White. “We
will continue to fight on behalf of the men, women and children of our
respective communities.”
Charged
Khalif Toombs, 29, of Pleasantville
Wilbert Toombs, 63, of Atlantic City
Blaine Dorsey, 54, of Atlantic City
Dean Johnson, 39, of Atlantic City
Mayda Hernandez, 50, of Atlantic City
Joseph Aversa, 37, of Ventnor
David Ramirez, 23, of Mays Landing
James Blackwell, 54, of Atlantic City
Khalif Davis, 33, of Mays Landing
Wayne Burnside, 28, of Atlantic City
Jeremy Carll, 47, of Mays Landing
Sarah Taliaferro, 26, of Brigantine
Philip Surace, 32, of Atlantic City
Valarie Lamar, 59, of Atlantic City
Karon Carey, 35, of Atlantic City
Thomas Randall, 25, of Mays Landing
Nasir Brown, 26, of Somers Point
Tieyesha Tucker, 25, of Atlantic City
Jamal Marshall, 32, of Atlantic City
Quadir Stanley, 30, of Atlantic City
Tyjuan Demarest, 39, of Elmwood Park
Terryn Kelsey, 29, of Atlantic City
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